Crowd Surf FAQs

1. What's new on the CrowdSurfWork Platform?

2. How do I log in?

3. How do I track my work?

4. Where do I find my new worker ID?

5. How do I check what Level I'm in?

1. What's new on the CrowdSurfWork Platform?

We have built a brand new CrowdSurf Work platform. This is the new home for all of your tasks. You can find the following tasks on the new platform:

Full Text Review

QC

QC Reject

Timing

Speaker ID

Special Handling Critical

You will experience an updated interface with faster load times, less unexpected downtime, and in the future you will have access to new statistics and feedback.

2. How do I log in?

Use this link log in to the new CrowdSurfWork Platform. You can use the same username and password provided to you during beta testing. If you need your username and password, please contact CrowdSurf Support.

We hope you enjoy the new platform! And thank you to the beta test team! If you are still interested in providing feedback, please use the Suggestion Box.

3. How do I track my work?

Your worker stats are available on the CrowdSurf Worker Feedback Sheet. These stats include daily and weekly records of your work volume, approval rating, QC score, earnings, and more. This spreadsheet is updated every other day Monday - Friday. If you have a question on your work history, please feel free to contact us.

To use the spreadsheet use Ctrl+F or Cmd+F and search for your worker ID. Your worker ID is available on the your Dashboard or My Profile page of the CrowdSurf Work Platform. Your worker ID will be a 32 digit number, separate from your username.

4. Where do I find my worker ID?

On your New Dashboard! Your new worker ID is available at the top of your Work History Dashboard.

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5. How do I check what level I'm in?

All levels and tasks are the same on the new CrowdSurfWork Platform. Each CrowdSurf level has distinct qualifications. You can check your CrowdSurf Qualifications on the Qualifications Tab (see below).

You still have access to the same queues you had before, with the same quality requirements. Please aspire to maintain a 90% approval rating on your CrowdSurf tasks.

If you need help determining your Level, visit the CrowdSurf Levels page.

Get Started in Level 4 Now! Congratulations!

We are thrilled to have you on the CrowdSurfWork Level 4team! For the first time ever, you will be scoring and correcting your peers' work. This is your chance to take everything you've learned in Full Text Review and use it to help fellow transcribers improve their work.

Your #1 goal as a Reviewer is to get the most correct transcript into FTR, while providing constructive improvements to the transcriber's work!

This article contains everything you need to know aboutLevel 4 Transcription Review tasks on Mturk. Keep reading to get started!

Congratulations once again, and we can't wait to work with you!

Sincerely, YourCrowdSurfSupport Team

Level 4! 1. What is Level 4? 2. How much do I make in Level 4? 3. Your Success in Level 4 4. Level 4 Best Practices 5. Next Steps!

1. What is Level 4?

Level 4 is responsible for making transcripts 100% perfectbefore they go to FTR! In Level 3 you've seen how important it isto have high quality transcripts coming into Full Text Review.In Level 4 you gain access to"Review, edit and score"HITs,where you'lleditand identifyerrors in transcripts before they go to the FTR queue. As a Level 4 worker, you've got a lot of new POWER! You have the opportunity to mentor fellow CrowdSurfers by leaving constructive comments and scoreson their transcript reviews. We're counting on you to put your FTR expertise togood use in Level 3! Read the Review Tool Guidelines for Level 4 Best Practices. 2. How much do I make in Level 4? Level 4 Transcription Review tasks are paid per task. You will be automatically paid via Amazon Payments or Work Market. Please check the CrowdSurf Bonus Blog regularly for Special Requirements for your weekly bonus. Transcription Review tasks are 35 seconds of media or less, and are easier and shorter than Transcription HITs. This means you'll have a higher effective pay rate in Transcription Review!

3. Your Success in Level 4

To stay inLevel4we need you to keep delivering high quality work.You'll need to focus on correct scoring and correct transcripts. To do both you should be a CrowdSurf Guidelines expert! Your Transcription Review dashboard will display the score you award HITs, not the score you earn. DO NOT use the average QC score to measure your success on "Review edit and score" HITs. We will monitor your work quality closely for accurate scoring and high quality transcription content, and we'll contact you if there is an issue with one of your Reviews. If you don't hear from us, you're doing just fine!

4. Level 4 Best Practices

Use the General Guidelines,Internet research, and your understanding of FTR to guide your reviews.

If you make an edit, you must mark an error.

Please give transcribers the benefit of the doubt.Do notmake subjective changes, especially subjective changesto commas. Follow these rules and suggest more here.

If you're deciding between major and minor errors,major impacts the meaning of the transcript, minor does not.

Please do not mark down or edit spacing around tags.

Please disregard periods at the end of HITs. Do not edit or score based on an erroneous period at the end of a HIT.

Please disregard /g on correctly spelled words. If the word with a /g on the end is spelled correctly for the transcript, please leave it alone. If spelled incorrectly, please correct spelling and mark as "Partially replaced..".

Inaudible or unknown tags. If able to correct inaudible or unknown tag, make the change and mark as "Partially replaced tag..." error. Do not count as missing words.

Please try to transcribe plot-relevant sounds. Do not mark transcript down if there is ANY ambiguity about this in the HIT. Leave a comment but do not mark any errors or make any edits if it is unclear whether the noise, sound, etc. is plot-relevant.

5. Next Steps!

When you submit at least 150 "Review edit and score"HITs you will become eligible for Level 5 work. Level 5 CrowdSurfers have access to Quality Control Tasks ($0.17/mm), Timing Tasks ($0.18/mm, Special Handling Tasks ($0.20) and Speaker ID Tasks ($0.15). With every CrowdSurf Promotion you unlock access to new and better work!

You are one of our highest performing workers on MTurk and we want to thank you for all your hard work! We are excited to have you in Level 4!

Thank you for your interest in CrowdSurf.

CrowdSurf takes pride in providing on-demand transcription and captioning services that make online media more accessible and enjoyable for hearing impaired users.

We process a variety of online media (ranging from exclusive interviews to popular cartoons) and we need your help to create verbatim transcripts!

CrowdSurf uses Work Market to hire and pay all CrowdSurf freelancers. Youll join CrowdSurf via Work Market, and work with us on our private editing platform, the CrowdSurfWork platform.

Its easy to get started.

Already have a Work Market account and want to log in to CrowdSurfWork? Skip to Step 3.3 !

Follow these 4 easy steps to get started!

STEP 1: Work Market Sign Up

1. Use the Join Us On Work Market! link at the bottom of this page and create your Work Market account. (Note: Choose **Writing and Translation** as your primary Industry. Use the drop down list to select your **Postal Code**)

2. The Work Market team will review your profile and tax information. This typically takes less than 24 hours. If theres an issue, please contact their support team.

3. Set up your Payment Method, you can choose from Direct Deposit, Paypal, and more!

STEP 2: Join CrowdSurf on Work Market

Work Market uses recruitment groups to connect you with employers offering freelance work. Once your Work Market account is set up:

1. Apply to join CrowdSurf as a new CrowdSurf transcriber by:

Logging in to your Work Market account

Clicking on *Groups*, located in the left sidebar underneath Profile

Typing CrowdSurf in the Keyword search box on the right, then clicking go.

Clicking on New CrowdSurf Transcribers.

2. Review our [General Guidelines](http://crowdsurfwork.com/general-guidelines/).

3. Take the CrowdSurf Transcription Assessment to join the CrowdSurf group.

STEP 3: Start CrowdSurfing

1. Onceyou'vepassed the assessment, you will receive an email from Work Market with the results.

2. Once you have passed the assessment, the CrowdSurf team will process your Work Market account. Please check your account often for an any invites you may receive from CrowdSurf and don't forget to press the accept button.

3. Within 5-10 business days we will create a new account for you on the CrowdSurfWork platform provided you are a member of the New CrowdSurf Transcriber group.

4. When your account is ready we will email you login instructions for the CrowdSurfWork platform to your Work Market email.

5. Just follow the instructions in your email. All of your work will be available on the CrowdSurfWork platform. You will work on the CrowdSurfWork platform, and your payments will come through Work Market.

STEP 4: Things You Should Know

If you're interested in Non-English Transcription, please click here

If you're interested in receiving critical updates and bonus offers from CrowdSurf, please subscribe to our Mailing List.

To continue working on CrowdSurf transcription, we ask that you maintain an average QC score of 3.5 (on our 1=fraud through 4=perfect scale) and work a minimum of 20 tasks per week to improve your skills and earn promotions. You must follow the Full General Guidelines to be successful with CrowdSurf.

You can find additional information about the New CrowdSurf Scoring system, posted on our CrowdSurf Blog.

Please note that we frequently update our guidelines and monitor our workers for quality and volume. Let us know if you have any questions or concerns [email protected].

We're always happy to help!

CLICK HERE to Join Us On Work Market!

Welcome to the CrowdSurf transcribing team, we are delighted to have you working with us!

Follow us on Twitter: @crowdsurfturk

Like us on Facebook: Crowdsurfwork

Or join our mailing list for updates!

Bookmark the Bonus Blog!

Bonus Quality Boost

Hello CrowdSurfers,

As you already know, CrowdSurf'scustomers demandthe highestquality transcription and caption services.It has always been our goal to rewardyou for both quality and performance. We believe a high qualityCrowdSurf productstarts with the very first keystroke on a Transcription HIT.To better align transcription practices with customer needs, we will be makingadjustments to promotions andTranscription bonuspayments. (This is good news -we canfacilitate higher quality from the very first HIT all the way to Timing Review).Here's what you need to know:

Transcription quality is going up: Transcription weekly bonuses will require a 3.75 average QC score.

Promotions for Transcription Superstars:Transcribers will now need a 3.85+ QC score and at least 200 HITs weekly for a promotion to FTR.

Get ready! This means that the new eligibility requirements for Transcription Weekly Bonuses will be 3.85QC and it will be reflected in the Weekly Bonus blogs.We know this is a significant change, but the Dispute Tool is there to help. Now that you can use the Dispute Tool to correct unfair reviews, 3.85 is a piece of cake! (Mmm, funfetti??)This will lead to bigimprovements all the way through the system. No more poor quality sneaking through to FTR and QC Reject!Just a reminder that if you're working from Mturk, you can join us on CrowdSurfWork via Work Market for full payment and full bonuses. See more details here.Thank you for all of your hard work with CrowdSurf! We'll see you in the queues!

Best,Your CrowdSurf Support Team

1. What's new on the CrowdSurf Mturk HITs?

2. Where did the Beta Qualification go?

3. What does Variable Pricing mean?

4. Where can I get automatic feedback on HITs?

5. What does my HIT score mean?

1. What's new on the CrowdSurf Mturk HITs?

We have rebuilt CrowdSurf HITs on MTurk and CrowdSurfWork. You will experience an updated interface with faster load times, variable pricing, and access to new statistics and feedback. See additionaldetails on all the changes here.

2. Where did the Beta Qualification go?

The Beta Qualification is reserved for internal testing purposes and a small group of CrowdSurf workers. Now that the features have been released to all CrowdSurfers, there's no need for a Beta Qualification. We hope you enjoy the new features! And thank you to the beta test team! If you are still interested in providing feedback, please use the Suggestion Box.

3. What does Variable Pricing mean?

Variable pricing means that your payment will be proportional to the length of each HIT that you work on. Previously, you were paid the same reward for a 16 second HIT as you were for a 25 second HIT.

For each HIT you will earn a base reward plus a 'variable' reward dependent upon the length of the HIT.

You will see the base reward on every HIT listed on the queue. You will see the total reward for the HIT is viewable once you preview the HIT.

See additionaldetails on all the changes here.

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4. Where can I get automatic feedback on HITs?

On your New Dashboard! To help you keep track of the HITsyou'veworked and your total earnings weve created a Payment and Review History dashboard, accessible on the Stats tab onceyou'veaccepted a HIT in MTurk.

Just click on the "Review your Payment and Work History" link to open the dashboard. (Hint: You may want to bookmark the dashboard page.) This link takes you to your individualized dashboard where you can find information on all of your transcription and review HITs.

To see feedback on scoring on individual HITs click on the QC score of a HIT listed in your dashboard.

5. What does my HIT score mean?

Anonymous workers just like you review your transcripts. Based on the corrections and errors that they mark, our sophisticated scoring algorithm will calculate a QC score for your HIT. Based on the QC score awarded the HIT, your Qualification Score for CrowdSurf transcription HITs will change.

Here is a breakdown of scoring:

Quality Level

QC Score

Qualification Score Change

Mturk Status

Fraud

1

-40

Rejected

Poor

2

-20

Approved

Fair

3

0 - no change

Approved

Perfect

4

+20

Approved

Maintain a minimum of a 3.5 average QC score, and a minimum of 900 Qualification Score to continue working with CrowdSurf.

Achieve a 3.6+ average QC score, and a 980+ Qualification Score on at least 100 HITs to be eligible for a CrowdSurf Promotion.

CrowdSurf offers two types of basic transcription tasks to Level 1 and Level 2 CrowdSurfers.

In the CrowdSurf queues you will see:

Edit the transcription of up to 35 seconds of media - Earn up to $0.15 per HIT!

Transcribe up to 35 seconds of media - Earn up to $0.17 per HIT!

This document covers everything you need to know about Edit the transcription HITs.

Just like other transcription HITs, the Edit the transcription queue provides micro-tasks with 10-35 second clips of media to be transcribed.

*** Edit the transcription HITs are unique because they provide a pre-populated transcript, see the red box in the image below. No transcribing from scratch! Just listen to the media, perfect the existing transcript to 100% accuracy, and submit.

Since you already have a transcript, this HIT is faster and easier, and has a similar effective pay rate to our regular Transcription HITs.

Also, youdon'thave to worry about keeping track of another task type for bonuses, the Edit the Transcription HITs count as Transcription HITs in any weekly or special bonus offers!

Check your feedback for Edit the Transcription on the Transcription tab of your Work History Dashboard.

Still need help? Check out our Edit the Transcription tutorial video below.

Have you ever been curious about the end product that you're helping to build?

As you know, CrowdSurf is in the business of making online media accessible to deaf, hard of hearing and second language viewers by adding transcripts to videos. Every step in the CrowdSurf process, from transcription micro-tasks to Special Handling Critical tasks, is crucial to making a perfect full length transcript.

Below you can find an example of what we're looking for. If you would like to try a training task visit the Full Text Review Challenge HERE.

If you want to get straight to the answers, watch the video below and follow along with the transcripts to learn how to apply the guidelines while transcribing.

If you're a CrowdSurf PRO, please comment with corrections for the "Accepted Transcript" below.

Here's the video:

Here's the Accepted transcript: Scroll down to see more

So OpenShift was designed from the get go to allow us to support secure application development and deployment. CIO's look to a platform like OpenShift to fundamentally say how can I run existing applications that I have at lower cost?

>> So, you know using those tools that are built into OpenShift Enterprise, right, has allowed us to scale rapidly. Bring our solutions just to market a lot faster, do all the things that a PaaS actually brings to the market.

>> So, Red Hat's always been a true collaborator, especially in the open source world. We've believed that we need to partner, increasingly not just with other companies, but also with the users of other technologies. Right, so there's almost an ocean/g for co-development that you have.

>> We're really excited about OpenShift 3, we've been really anxious to get our hands on it, and we've just started playing with it recently.

>> We looked at every other PaaS offering that was available at the time, and we evaluated every offer when we selected OpenShift Enterprise as our partner.

>> When we first started OpenShift, we actually ran it in containers. I'd want to take advantage of efficiency that containers provided to our environment that it provided on public cloud.

>> We've got to introduce the concept of continuously OpenShift to rural and with Trio, you have [UNKNOWN] Docker and addressable containers. Really, it provides us with manageability and security in a whole new, different way that time capability is really shrink down much faster for us.

>> The ability for us to put more of our workload into those containers really helps us be more efficient, helps us be faster, more nimble. Makes it easier for us to test. In the end, everything just gets better and easier the more we can put into these containers. OpenShift 3 is gonna help us manage that all.

>> We designed OpenShift to help address these challenges that CIOs have. CIOs can take advantage of new language and frameworks. CIOs can run the OpenShift platform in a traditional data center, in infrastructure service environments like OpenStack.

In their existing VMware environment, this will choose as well as enhanced virtualization environment as well as other third party clouds, like whether it's Amazon, or Google. So, we give them a lot of flexibility.

>> So, by building on top of OpenShift, that got us a lot of bang for the buck in terms of containers and modularization and things we wanted to manage our platform. And the thing people sort of don't realize about the world and the way it's changed the past couple years is that pretty much everything's run by software nowadays. We wanted someone to come in and help us, a trusted partner if you will, to come in and give us some, give us a leg up in the market.

>> In some ways, I think our choice of OpenShift Enterprise was based more on the relationship that we established with the Red Hat folks. So, the relationship we have with those guys that support OpenShift as a product today is more than I could've ever asked for. [BLANK_AUDIO]

Now you know what it takes to create the perfect CrowdSurf transcript!

If you have suggestions for how to approve the transcript above, please comment below! Extra credit to all CrowdSurfers who participate. :)

Important Reminders:

Correct spelling and consistency of names is key: OpenShift, Red Hat.

Correct unknown and inaudible tags: Use the video for context clues as best you can.

Pay close attention to speaker change flags and sentence breakpoints. This transcript had several incorrect speaker changes.

Check all spelling and punctuation. Typos are the worst in video captions!

Remember to flag for incorrect timing in real FTR tasks! Whenever there is a mismatch at the beginning of a sentence between the timing of the sentence in the audio, and the timing of when the sentence pops up in the yellow box, please click the clock icon so that it is activated red to be retimed in Timing Review.

You'll need to train your eye for these larger picture edits, like timing errors, spelling and formatting consistency, speaker changes, and consistency of tagging for sounds.

Full Text Review is where you make the transcripts perfect so that the end viewer (likely a deaf or hard of hearing person) has a great experience with the final video captions.

Thank you!

see them here

How will you get paid for your work on the CrowdSurfWork Platform?

All work will be completed on the CrowdSurfWork Platform, and payments will go to your Work Market account. Work Market offers several disbursement methods including PayPal, direct deposit and a Work Market card. We have created a way to bundle your individual task payments to ameliorate the payment processing load for Work Market. You will now receive batches of payments to your Work Market accounts for a group of tasks completed on CrowdSurfWork. This post will answer the questions:

What are batch payments?

How do batch payments work with my schedule?

How do I reconcile my CrowdSurf payments?

What does this mean for you? You will now receive one payment in Work Market for each batch of tasks completed in CrowdSurfWork. No more 1:1 payment to task ratio! The number of tasks in each batch, and the timing of payments depends on your level of activity. Each batch will be paid after approximately an hour of inactivity.This will allow for more reliable CrowdSurfWork payments to your Work Market account. Here are some examples: If you work for 40 minutes and then do not work for at least an hour, you will receive a single payment for all of the work completed in your 40 minutes of activity. Alternatively, if you work for 4 hours, take a 30 minute break, and then work for 2 more hours before stopping for the day, all of your tasks from the 6 hours of activity will be paid in one payment, likely while you are sleeping. Batch payments are designed to reduce the number of "cancelled", "invalid", "voided" notifications that you receive on Work Market. Here is what it looks like: Anonymous worker works 9 Transcription Review Tasks in CrowdSurfWork, totaling to $0.85 as depicted in the CrowdSurfWork Transcription Review Dashboard. Anonymous Worker stops working for at least an hour and checks Work Market for payments received. A single payment of $0.85 comes through Work Market for the batch of 9 Transcription Review HITs worked on CrowdSurfWork. Here's a closer look! Coming up next: Batch payments are just part of the solution! We are also working on several Work History Dashboard improvements so that you can keep a close eye on your task numbers, earnings, and payment summary. Our aim is to greatly increase transparency around your CrowdSurfWork payments.

For now, you can use the Payment Amount Total on your Payment Summary tab of your Work History Dashboard to review all payments going to your Work Market account.

Please keep in mind that Work Market is only for your payments. For tasksubmission and keeping track of work history, work quality, and task volume, you'll need to refer to your CrowdSurfWork dashboard.

Just think of Work Market as a way to see your receipt after you've been paid. Everything else that you need will be accessible on the CrowdSurfWork platform.

That's it for now! If you need to refer to the Work Market FAQ, please . The whole CrowdSurf tech team is working to make sure Work Market and CrowdSurfWork offer a sustainable, enjoyable, and user-friendly experience for every single one of you in the CrowdSurf community! Thank you for all of your hard work with CrowdSurf this month!

email us

Take a Look at

the New

CrowdSurfWork

We are excited to introduce our new CrowdSurfWork Platform!

There are a lot of new improvements that will make your Tasks faster and more user friendly. This is only stage 1 of this project there are many exciting additions coming. Let's focus on howthe New CrowdSurfWork platform will benefit you today!

HIGHLIGHTS:

Faster Load Times - Our new platform will reduce load times for the media by up to 50%! You will notice a significant improvement in speed when saving your work allowing you to continue on to your next task much faster.

A more reliable service with less unexpected downtime.

A NEW Log In - Log In FAQ's here.

A New Updated Look

New worker ID

A new name - We're working on deciding on a great new name. Have a Suggestion on a Name? Let us know!

All of your Crowd Virtualizer tasks are now available only on the CrowdSurfWork Platform.

Take a look HERE for details instructions!

CrowdSurfWork Platform FAQ

Question 1.What is the new CrowdSurfWork Platform? A. CrowdSurfWork is the new Crowd Virtualizer platform. All of your Full Text Review, QC, QC Reject tasks are now available on CrowdSurfWork! Question 2. Where do I login? A. Bookmark this link! https://work.crowdsurfwork.com/accounts/login/ Question 3.How do I login? A. You will need to sign up with CrowdSurf on Work Market. The CrowdSurf team will send you individualized login instructions. Please check your email a few days after joining the CrowdSurf group on Work Market.

Question 4.Why doesn't my dashboard work? A. Your Work History Dashboard is under construction! Find your daily and weekly stats on the Freelance Feedback Sheet ! Question 5.Why did I get a reject? A. Your FTR tasks are quality controlled just like your HITs in Mturk. If you want quality feedback on your rejected tasks, justand we'll go over it with you!

How To Take A Screenshot

We are always striving to improve CrowdSurf tools and technology in our efforts to provide the besttranscription service and experience.

As a worker, you may encounter instances where you may experience some technical difficulties as we update our platform. Whenever you encounter an error we ask that you provide us a screenshot as well as a description of the kind of problem you encounter.

How To Take A Screenshot - Windows

1. Click on your Internet browser window with the problem open

2. Hold downAlt +Print Screen (PrtScn). This will take a screenshot of youractivewindow.

- Print Screen (PrtScn)is located on the top right of your keyboard

2.GotoStart >AllPrograms >Accessories>Paint

3. After Paint is opened, holdCtrl + Vto paste your browser windowonto paint

4. With the screenshot now in paint, go toFile > Save Asand then save your picture as a file

5. Attach this filewith a description of the problem you encountered when contactingtechnical support

How To Take A Screenshot -Mac

1. Click on your Internet browser window with the problem open

2. Hold downCommand+Shift+4

3.Press theSpacebarand then click on your Internet browser window to capture a screenshot of your current window

4. Your Mac will save the screenshot as a file on your desktop that will be titled similarly to"Screen shot 2015-04-09 at 08.45.00 AM.png"

5. Attach this filewith a description of the problem you encountered when contacting technical support

We hope this helps and we look forward tocontinue working with you!

- CrowdSurf Support Team

As you know, we have been exploring all options to ensure that the CrowdSurf Work experience is the best it possibly can be. We are excited to announce that we will be partnering with Work Market, a cloud-based Freelance Management System to continue hiring and paying all of our wonderful CrowdSurfers who currently work on Mturk. Keep reading for...

An Introduction to Work Market

How to Get Started on CrowdSurfWork viaWork Market

Frequently Asked Questions

What you need to know: We plan to make Work Market our primary payment platform, but we will continue to offer work throughMturk and Upwork,at approximately 10% lower rates than what is currently offered on Mturk and what will continue to be offered on Work Market.

Some benefits of Work Market:

Easy Account Creation

Reliable and user-friendly website

Several Payment Disbursement options

More customizable user-experience on the CSW platform

We will use Work Marketas a new hiring platform (similar to Mturk), and ourtranscription and editing tasks will be availableon our private CrowdSurfWork platform. This means that all work will be completed on CrowdSurfWork, and Work Market will be simply a payment mechanism for your CrowdSurf tasks.

Here's how youget started: 1)The Recruitment Email:We will send a recruitment campaign to invite you to Work Market.Do not make your own account on Work Market until you receive the campaign.This campaign will ensure that you're in the correct level, so please wait for the invitation.

2) Work Market Setup: Once you receive the recruitment message, go ahead and make your account on Work Market. Be sure to verify your email and please set your industry as "Writing and Translation". Remember: Set your preferred notification settings (uncheck all of the boxes so you don't get spammed by other requesters) and set up your tax/ banking information for later. Please research and choose the payment method that best fits your needs. 3) Wait for Login Instructions: Once everyone has created their Work Market accounts, we will create your new CrowdSurfWork accounts and send you an email with CrowdSurfWork platform login instructions. Please wait to receive our email, it may take up to 3-7 days. 4) Move to CrowdSurfWork: Once you receive your CrowdSurfWork instructions, please move all of your CrowdSurf activity to the CrowdSurfWork platform andWork Market payments. Please note that bonuses will not be combined across both platforms and rollover will not bemoved over to Work Market. Start as soon as possible on Work Market to avoid bonus disruption. 5) Receive Payments via Work Market: While you're using Work Market, you will log in tothe CrowdSurfWork platform to complete all work and track all work history, payments, and feedback. No action will be required on Work Market except receiving funds and withdrawing funds from your Work Market account.

Thank youfor helping us realize the new phase of CrowdSurf work, for the crowd, by the crowd. Please stand by for your Work Market recruitment email.

If you have further questions, please see the FAQ below! Best, Your CrowdSurf Support Team

Peruse our commonly asked Work Market questions below! 1. I'm in the wrong group on Work Market, what do I do? A. Email us your Work Market ID and the Level that you're supposed to be in, and we'll update your qualifications as soon as we can. 2. Since I started the week on Mturk and then started working on CrowdSurfWork, will my bonuses be combined? A. No, there are no bonuses offered on Mturk. Your Mturk worker ID will earn your Mturk earnings. And your Work Market worker ID will earn your CrowdSurfWork earnings and you are eligible for bonuses.

We encourage you to move exclusively to Work Market at your earliest convenience to maximize bonus earnings on CrowdSurfWork. Additionally, the sooner you move to Work Market, the sooner you will be eligible for level promotions, and HIT score disputes. 3.Why am I getting notifications that say: "CrowdSurf Admin cancelled your assignment, CrowdSurf Task (4843625809)"? A.None of your "assignments" are actually being cancelled. It is a system error that we are working on internally. We ask that you ignore these "cancellation" notices for now, as well asother "invalid" states.

The only valid state at this time is the "paid" status. This is an accurate state and you should see your payments going through with no issues. If you notice any discrepancies in the "paid" assignments, please wait 24 hours before notifying us. It appears that if there is a delay in payment, it's usually processed within a few hours. 4. Why am I getting double notifications from CrowdSurf via Work Market/ why are all these other employers contacting me? A. This is controlled by your Work Market notification and privacy settings. If we need to get a hold of you, we will email you directly or message you via the CrowdSurfWork platform. Please set your notification settings according to your preferences. We recommend unchecking the box that says "Invites to take on assignments" as well as "Assignment Updated" and "Assignment Cancelled". 5. How will payments be betteron Work Market? A. With Work Market,you'll work on CrowdSurfWork, andget paid through Work Market. This means that CrowdSurfWork will be the place where you accept, work, and submit tasks and also where you keep track of pending payments, work history, and task feedback. Your Work Market platform will act as a place to view receipts of completed payments. You can also choose several different payment option on Work Market, including Pay Pal, Bank Transfer, or a Work Market card. We encourage you to look into each option and choose the one that best suits your needs. Please also take into consideration that pay rates on Mturk will decrease by 10% to account for the rate increase charged to requestors to use Mturk. Work Market / CrowdSurfWork will continue to offer the same pay rates we typically offer for CrowdSurf tasks - bonuses and happy hours included! Please continue to visit the CrowdSurf Bonus blog for Weekly Bonus terms and conditions!

We hope to see you all on Work Market over the next few weeks!

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CrowdSurf General Guidelines

Section One- Most Common Requirements

Rule

Instruction

Example

Clean Verbatim Transcription

Your transcripts provide captions for deaf and hard of hearing viewers!

Transcribe the audio content exactly as heard, but leave out

Disfluencies (um, uh, ah, eh);

Filler words (hm, you know, like);

Stutters, stammers, unnecessary repetitions, and false starts (where the speaker changes idea mid-sentence).

Exceptions:

Nonconsecutive repeated phrases should not be removed

Leave deliberate repetitions in the transcript.

Use correct American English spelling and grammar. No exceptions.

When transcribing dialogue, leave out any filler words that interrupt the primary speaker.

*You may be directed to transcribe True Verbatim (transcribe exactly as said) on jobs with Special Guidelines pop-ups

Spoken: I, i, It, it, was in two, 2000, uh, 2015.

Transcribe as: It was in 2015.

Spoken:Person 1: I, I, I was um, uh, wa- waiting outside and it was sooo cold, ya know? The sky was the colour of slate- Person 2: Hm.Person 1: And I had this idear

Transcribe as: I was waiting outside and it was so cold. The sky was the color of slate and I had this idea,

Spoken:

So you know, like, what do we do when we have text files, CSV files?

Transcribe as:

What do we do when we have text files, CSV files?

Spoken:

If you launch it at too high of an engine rpm, like 1201 RPM, you incinerate the rear tires.

Transcribe as:

If you launch it at too high of an engine rpm like 1201 RPM, you incinerate the rear tires.

Spoken: I don't think, Paul, I don't think that's the case.

Transcribe as:

I don't think, Paul, I don't think that's the case

Transcript Format

Beginning of HIT

End of HIT

Always capitalize the first letter of the first word in a HIT, even if it's not the start of a sentence.

Always close a HIT with a period, unless you're sure that it's the middle of a sentence, then leave it open or with a comma.

Never close a hit with a dash (- or --) or ellipses (...).

To send the report. I need it by tomorrow morning at

We will call them back tomorrow.

Transcript Style

Consistency is key!

Use the video to guide style, formatting (i.e. capitalization), and spelling in your transcript.

If the speaker references something on screen, transcribe it as shown.

Transcribe elements of a computer interface as they appear on screen.

Sentence Format

Beginning

Punctuation

Interruptions

Dialogue

Spacing

Sentence Breaks

Always capitalize the first letter of the first word.

Separate sentences with a period.

Use a dash to indicate an abrupt interruption mid-sentence by another speaker. Never use a dash to indicate a stutter. Leave out stutters in Clean Verbatim.

With spoken dialogue do not transcribe verbal tics (like habitual mm-hms) that interrupt the primary speakers sentence.

Use a single space between sentences.

Break up run-on compound sentences, and join fragments into complete sentences when possible.

Do your best to make coherent sentences out of the speakers speech patterns. It is perfectly acceptable to start a sentence with And or But in CrowdSurf transcripts.

So tomorrow we will see the Challenger- >> Yes, the Challenger Jobs Report.

Spoken: >> But before I can do the install, I-> >> Mm-hm. >> Have to first make sure the server is up- >> Mm-hm. >> And running and then

Transcribe as: But before I can do the install, I have to first make sure the server is up and running and then

Spoken: Now you can see that once again we've got, you know, the preview going on if I click submit you can see that it does not ah, make uh, it, it doesn't make a request, and query string, you can see actually, that when I click submit, uh actually, it's gonna, you know, make the network request in the background.

Transcribe as: Now you can see that once again we've got the preview going on. If I click submit you can see that it does not make a request, and query string. You can see actually, that when I click submit, actually, it's gonna make the network request in the background.

Names and Industry Jargon

Use the CrowdSurf Glossary for help with technical terms.

All person, product, and company names must be spelled and formatted correctly.

If unsure of the spelling, Google the word. Capitalize all place names and proper nouns.

Exception: Some company, software and other names are not capitalized or contain unique titles with numbers etc.

Represent them as they represent themselves. Note that the logo is separate from the company name.

Massachusetts, freemium

The people working at Apple are very nice.

W3 Communication is located over there.

My iPod is broken.

Speaker Change Flag for tasks with Multiple Speakers

Each time there is a new speaker in the media, indicate the change with a double chevron >>

If only one speaker, do not use a >> in the transcript.

If more than one person is talking at the same time, use your best judgment as to where to put the >>.

Where the dialogue is not transcribable due to overlap use [CROSSTALK].

Use >> to indicate a change in speaker with human-made sounds like [LAUGH], [COUGH], [APPLAUSE], etc.

Hey Charlie. >> Hello Amy, how are you? >> Just fine Charlie. >> [LAUGH]

Punctuation Marks

Do not use

quotation marks ( ),

semi-colons (;),

colons (:),

ellipses (),

em-dashes (--)

in CrowdSurf transcripts.

Exception: If specifically shown on-screen in a title or a line of code, then these punctuation marks may be included.

I was talking to him and he said yeah, I'd love to go see The Wizard of Oz.

Silence, Sounds and Non-Verbal noises

All plot-relevant audio content should be recorded in your transcript.

Use one tag per uninterrupted period of silence, sound, music, or non-verbal noises.

Use bbb (for BLANK_AUDIO) when there is no audio, silence, or non-relevant sounds (like static) for 2secondsor morein a clip.

Use mmm (for MUSIC) to indicate music and singing in the media. Do not use this for background music played simultaneously with speaker. Insert a music tag when there is only music or song for 2seconds or more in the media.

Use speaker changes with ccc (for COUGH), lll (for LAUGH), aaa (for APPLAUSE), etc.

Use sss (for SOUND) or nnn (for NOISE) for distinct, plot-relevant noises in transcripts.

Use Aah! to indicate a scream.

Check your sound settings before submitting [BLANK_AUDIO].

All sound tag shortcuts available on the right side of media tool. Do not make up your own tags.

Spoken: I know that we all want to work towards equality, (audience applauds for a second or two, overlapping the speaker's next word or phrase] but it's not always easy when

Transcribe as: I know that we all want to work towards equality, >> [APPLAUSE] >> But it's not always easy when

Static In Audio

Ignore it. Don't type sss to denote sound. If the clip is nothing but static, then use bbb.

[BLANK_AUDIO]

Noisy Lecture Halls

Ignore it. Don't type sss or nnn to denote the noise. (It is not relevant to the content of the lecture) If the clip contains unintelligble crowd noise, please use bbb.

[BLANK_AUDIO]

Audio Issues and Cut Off Words

If the audio quality is too challenging, please skip the HIT.

If the cut-off word is obvious based on the portion of it you heard and the context of the sentence, then complete the word.

If you cannot discern the cut-off word, type iii or [INAUDIBLE].

If the word is cut off at the beginning and you can't hear it, do not type anything.

Back to the top

Section Two- Spelling & Grammar

1. Accepted Spellings

As part of Clean Verbatim transcripts, spelling should adhere to the following rules:

Correct

Incorrect

Example

All right

Alright

All right, are we ready to get started?

Okay / OK button

Kay, ok, Mkay

Okay, when youre ready to get started click OK.

Mm-hm

Mmm hmm, Mmhmm,

Mm-hm, I agree. Mm-hm.

Uh-huh

Uh huh, Uhuh

Uh-huh, I understand you.

etc.

etcetera

Use webinars for classes, presentations, sales, etc.

Back to the top

2. Accepted Slang

Our system will automatically correct the following slang terms, transcribe them as spoken. Example: speaker says "kinda", transcribe as kinda not kind of. If they say "kind of", transcribe as kind of.

If not included in this list, please transcribe the full, correct word as shown in your favorite dictionary. Example: speaker says em, always transcribe as them.

Correct

Incorrect

Yeah

Ya, yea

Cuz

Cause, cus

Yep

Yip, yeap

Gonna

Going To

Kinda

Kind of

Sorta

Sort of

Wanna

Want to

Gotta

Got to

Back to the top

3. Contractions

Rule

Instruction

Example

We'll vs. Well

1. We'll is a contraction of we will, without the apostrophe, well, has a different meaning.

1a. We'll meet in the morning.

1b. You have done well on this assignment.

Lets vs. Lets

2. Let's is a contraction for let us, without the apostrophe, lets, is a synonym for allows.

2a. Let's go to the beach tomorrow2b. This ski pass lets you ski all season.

I'm vs. Im

3. I'm is a contraction of I am, im andI'mare not correct.

3. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Shouldve vs. Should of

4. Shouldve is a contraction of should have, should of is not correct.

4. You shouldve been there, it was awesome!

Whos vs. Whose

5. Whos is a contraction of who is, whose is a possessive of who.

I know a woman whose kids study there. >> Whos that?

Back to the top

4. Homophones

Rule

Instruction

Example

Its

Its

It's is a contraction of the words it is.

Its is a possessive pronoun.

It's cold out today.

The dog is looking for its owner.

Your

Youre

The word your is the possessive form of you

You're is a contraction of the words you are.

Your dog is so playful.

You're welcome.

There

Their

Theyre

Use there when referring to a location or direction.

Use their to indicate possession.

They're is a contraction of the words they are.

He is over there.

I accidentally crashed into their car.

They're going to be happy to hear the good news.

To

Too

Two

To indicates direction or action.

Too means also, very or excessively.

Two is a number.

Please go to the store.

This class is too difficult.

I have two young children.

Then

Than

Then refers to time.

Than is usually used to indicate comparisons.

He was about to leave, but then got distracted.

She is more helpful than you.

Back to the top

Section Three- Punctuation

Rule

Instruction

Example

General Punctuation

Use proper punctuation whenever possible.

Begin all HITs with a capital letter, end all HITs with a period.

Exception: If you are confident the HIT ends mid-sentence leave the sentence without punctuation.

Discouraged Punctuation Marks

Em-dash --

Ellipses

Quotation Marks

Semi-colon ;

Colon :

Exception: When punctuation is shown on screen in computer programming media, on-screen formatting takes precedence over punctuation rules.

I just read The Hunger Games.

She said my email address is [email protected].

Speaker Interruption

Use an en-dash to indicate a mid-sentence interruption by a second speaker

Do not use an en-dash if the speaker interrupts him/herself.

Jiminy Crick- >> Oh my!

Punctuation and Numbers

Do not use an apostrophe with ages or decades.

Do not use a dash with number ranges, spell out to or through.

The 60s were an exciting time in the US.

You should exercise every day for 30 to 40 minutes.

Sentence Style & Breakpoints

Break up run-on sentences.

Join sentence fragments.

Think about how your sentences will be displayed on screen as video captions.

Hint: Generally 40-60 characters is the optimal sentence length.

Ideal Transcript: Okay, now you can see that once again we've got the preview going on. If I click Submit you can see that it does not make a request.

Too long: Okay, now you can see that once again we've got the preview going on, if I click Submit you can see that it does not make a request.

Too short: Okay. Now you can see that once again. Weve got the preview going on. If I click Submit. You can see that it does not make a request.

Back to the top

Section Four- Numbers

Write out numbers zero through ten, numbers above ten represent with numerical digits.

Rule

Instruction

Example

Writing Out Numbers zero through ten

Write out all numbers zero through ten, unless they are part of the following:

Court rulings (4-3),

Sports records (10-7-0),

Height measurements (6'9")

Mathematical or scientific equations or computer code (transcribe as seen in lecture slides)

Time (12:15PM)

List (1. Sign up 2. Log in...)

Biblical references (John 3:16)

Storage units (1 GB)

Binary (0101)

Dates (April 7th, 2015)

These are two of the ideas that I want to share.

Spoken: Two times two equals four.

Shown on screen: 2 x 2 = 4

Transcribe as: 2 x 2 = 4.

Numerals for Numbers 11 and above

Write numerically all numbers between 11 and above.

For numbers above 999,999, substitute million, billion, etc. for the zeros.

Incorrect: This new policy will affect roughly 400 thousand people in New Mexico.

Their tour will stop in 21 cities around North America.

This new policy will affect roughly 400,000 people in New Mexico.

Shes got 1 million new followers on Twitter.

Imprecise Number Amounts

For imprecise numerical amounts spell out the numbers.

This applies when the speaker is estimating or using an exaggeration which is not intended to be a precise quantity.

Examples: a few hundred, a few thousand, a million

Spoken: We need to raise a hundred dollars.

Transcribe as: We need to raise $100.

Spoken: The team raised a few hundred dollars.

Transcribe as: The team raised a few hundred dollars.

Spoken: I've got about a billion things to do today.

Transcribe as: I've got about a billion things to do today.

Range of Numbers and Consistency

Do Not use a dash, always spell out to

Use consistent formatting within sentences, use numerals (when at least one of the numbers is over 10) for quantities with related units, lists, or numbers with a statistical relationship.

The President will need 60 to 70% approval rating in the polls.

Skip ahead 10 to 20 frames and click Play.

Ordinal Numbers First, Second, Third, etc.

Spell out the word for first through tenth.

Use numerals for 11th and above.

I will be visiting their second grade class on June 25th.

She was first woman admitted in the 19th century.

Roman Numerals

Use Roman numerals to describe sequences like in wars, events, or people.

World War II, King John II, Super Bowl XLIX

Percentages

Use the numeral followed by %, unless speaker uses a fraction of a percent.

Exception: Do not use % if a number is not associated with it.

57%

What percent correct do I need to get an A in this class?

Spoken: Were seeing an increase of a quarter of a percent versus last years increase of twelve percent.

Transcribe as: Were seeing an increase of a quarter of a percent versus last years increase of 12%.

Decimal Numbers

If the number is less than one, then use a leading 0 before the decimal point.

0.7 seconds, 0.5%

Year

No apostrophe necessary when referencing the time period.

The 1980s, the 60s

Age

Dont add zeros when referencing age range or quantity.

She is probably in her thirties.

He wrote hundreds of pages.

Back to the top

Section Five- Sound Quickies

Sound Quickies are for representing nonverbal parts of media. There are several rules to follow;

Use sound tags to indicate sound, noise, music, or periods of silence in transcripts. One tag per section of uninterrupted sound.

Transcribe all plot-relevant sounds, music, blank audio to describe the audio content of the media. For example, if the HIT is primarily a gun fight with the musical soundtrack played simultaneously in the background, transcribe [NOISE] for the gunfight, ignore the music.

Type short code in all lowercase letters mmm and all Tags in uppercase [MUSIC]. All else will be incorrect.

Do not add punctuation after standalone sound tags.

Rule

Instruction

Example

Blank Audio

Blank Audio tags are imperative for correct timing of video captions.

Use when there is silence, no plot-relevant audio, or just static in a HIT. Example: If a professor is flipping pages, typing, writing on the board, or clicking through slides this should be blank audio, not sound.

Verify that the video has loaded correctly and that computer audio settings are correct.

OR use [BLANK_AUDIO] to indicate a lapse of 2or more seconds or more of no speech.

bbb or [BLANK_AUDIO]

Spoken: So now you see Ill add in twenty pixels (typing noise for 1 second) of padding on each side (typing noise for 4 seconds) there you go

On screen: padding: 20px;

Transcribe as: So now you see Ill add in 20px of padding on each side. [BLANK_AUDIO] There you go.

Indiscernible Audio

(Try to use as rarely as possible)

Notation can be used to replace one word, or a phrase that cannot be heard.

Incorrect Format examples: [iii], (iii), Iii, III, sp, sp?, [sp], xx, [x], etc

iii or [INAUDIBLE]

Crosstalk

(Two or more speakers talking at once)

Use when two or more speakers talk simultaneously and their words cannot be distinguished.

Incorrect: tt, TTT, (??), etc.

ttt or [CROSSTALK]

Unknown

(Try to use as rarely as possible)

If absolutely not sure of the word, use uuu or [UNKNOWN].

uuu or [UNKNOWN]

Guess

Youre making a reasonable spelling guess based on the sound or context.

Phonetically spell the word and append /g to the end.

Google for correct spelling before using /g.

Onomatopoeia/g

Laugh

Speaker laughs or giggles. May be mid-sentence or a standalone tag.

Use a speaker change between laugher and previous speaker.

lll or [LAUGH]

Spoken: So I told him to bugger off (second speaker laughs) or I'd have him arrested before he could say boo

Transcribe as: So I told him to bugger off- >> [LAUGH] >> Or I'd have him arrested before he could say boo.

Music or singing

Insert a music tag when there is only music or song for 2seconds or more in the media.

Do NOT insert tag when music is playing in the background, simultaneous to speech.

Lyrics should only be transcribed when a pop-up message specifically instructs you to transcribe lyrics. If in doubt, only use a [MUSIC] tag.

mmm or [MUSIC]

Sound

(Heard Phone Beep, Mechanical Noises, Distinct Background Sounds, sighs, non-verbal utterances etc.)

Use for distinct sounds.

Do not use for static.Type bbb for all static or noisy lecture hall sounds.

Do not insert tag when sound is playing in the background of speaker talking.

Do not create your own sound tags for specific noises or human-made sounds.

sss or [SOUND] or nnn or [NOISE]

Cough

(Cough or throat clearing noise)

Use for coughing or throat clearing, mid-sentence or in a stand-alone sentence.

Do not transcribe if cougher is off-screen (i.e. if unidentified student coughs mid-lecture)

Use a speaker change flag to distinguish between cougher and previous speaker.

ccc or [COUGH]

Foreign Language

Use in place of any language other than English, even if you are able to understand the foreign language.

You may be asked to copy English subtitles when prompted by Special Guidelines, no FOREIGN tag necessary in this case.

Use a speaker change flag to indicate a change in speaker, even if in foreign language.

fff or [FOREIGN]

Spoken: He has a certain joie de vivre about him.

Transcribe as: He has a certain joie de vivre about him

Spoken: Je vois pas trop le rapport avec Marseille, mais bon, je vais cliquer sur. Marseille dans le Rhne, et l!

Transcribe as: [FOREIGN]

Applause

Use for group clapping or cheering.

Incorrect Format examples: [applause] AAA (cheering)

aaa or [APPLAUSE]

Bleep

Use only when media bleeps over an expletive.

Do not use if expletive is spoken in the media.

Incorrect Format examples: [xxx] (bleep)

xxx or [BLEEP]

Back to the top

Section Six- Currency and Time

Rule

Instruction

Example

Dollars and Cents

Do not write dollars use $ sign for a quantifiable amount.

When less than $1 use the format $0.xx.

I owe you $12 for lunch today.

The startup raised $1.2 million in round one.

The profit margin is $0.50 per unit.

Bucks

If the speaker says bucks instead of 'dollars, spell out bucks.

25 bucks

Foreign Currency

When transcribing foreign currency, type out the word for it, rather than the symbol.

I just visited England and I have 100 pounds left over from the trip.

AM and PM

Use AM and PM not a.m. and p.m.

If the time is on the hour, transcribe without :00

1:17 PM or 1 PM

12 oclock

If the speaker says oclock transcribe it as heard.

12 oclock

not 12:00 oclock

Military Time

If spoken as x hundred hours, use the 00:00 format.

17:00 hours

Back to the top

Section Seven- Math & Science

Capture the audio content of the HIT in your transcript, use the video to guide your formatting of any numbers, variables or terms that the speaker references.

Go by audio first, use video for clarifications.

Rule

Instruction

Example

Equations

Transcribe the equation as spoken, by the speaker.

Use the video to guide your formatting, spacing, and capitalization. Try to match your transcript to the video as much as possible.

Exception: CrowdSurf transcripts do not support the following symbols:

Subscripts/superscripts (transcribe side-by-side p0)

Greek letters (spell out pi, rho)

Fractions (two-thirds)

Special Characters like integral, derivative, square root.

Spoken: The slope of the secant line through a, f of a, and a second point a plus h f of a plus h provides an approximation when h is small.

Shown on screen: The slope of the secant line through (a, f(a)) and a second point (a + h, f(a+h)) provides an approximation when h is small.

Transcribe as: The slope of the secant line through (a, f(a)) and a second point (a + h, f(a+h)) provides an approximation when h is small.

Notations

(+,-,x, /)

If not shown on screen, transcribe the spoken word instead of the symbol. (In math equations, still keep numbers as numerals even if under 10.)

Multiplication: 4 times 7 equals 28.

Division: 28 divided by 4 equals 7.

Addition: 2 plus 2 equals 4.

Subtraction: 2 minus 2 equals 0.

Squared, Cubed, Power etc.

For all equations involving exponential numbers, use the spoken word.

4 to the 2nd equals 16

3 to the 3rd equals 27

The square root of 4 equals 2

x to the nth equals 25

Negative Numbers

If not shown on screen, for all mathematical notations involving negative numbers, use the spoken word.

3 minus 4 equals negative 1.

Trigonometric Functions

Spell out all trigonometric functions, do not abbreviate.

sine (sounds like sign)

cosine

tangent

secant

cosecant

cotangent

Fractions

For all mathematical notations involving fractions, transcribe the spoken word.

1 plus 1 and two-thirds equals x.

Variables

All mathematical variables (a, b, c, x, y, etc.) should be written lowercase unless shown in the video or specifically spoken by the instructor as uppercase.

Spoken: Um, e to the 2 pi i k, m minus n divided by capital N.

On screen: e 2 i k (m - n) / N

Transcribe as: e to the 2 pi i k (m n) / N

Scientific Terminology, proper names

Research name or term to ensure proper spelling.

Simply input the phonetic spelling of the term into your favorite search engine to check spelling.

Transcribe your best guess and append the word with /g if you are not sure.

Leibniz notation

Professor writing on board

If the speaker makes noise while,

Flipping pages,

Writing on a board or projector screen,

Or any typing noises

and all else is silent for2or more seconds, transcribe as [BLANK_AUDIO].

Spoken: If we want to minimize J of theta (writes on board for 5 seconds) then well need to take the derivative

On screen: J() =

Transcribe as:

If we want to minimize J(theta), [BLANK_AUDIO] Then well need to take the derivative

Back to the top

Section Eight- Computers & Software

Capture the audio content of the HIT in your transcript, use the video to guide your formatting of any buttons, tabs, or other elements of the computer interface.

Rule

Instruction

Example

Shift

Shift

Shift-click to select all of the files in the folder

Alt (And other keyboard combinations)

Alt

If it Sounds like : Hold alt, control, delete.

Transcribe like this: Hold Alt+Ctrl+Delete

Option

Option

Option+N creates the character.

Command

Cmd

Press Cmd+Z (Mac) to undo the last action.

Control

Ctrl

Press Ctrl+Z (Windows) to undo the last action.

Enter or Return

Enter or Return

Then hit Enter.

Arrow up / arrow down

Arrow up or arrow down

Press the arrow up or arrow down keys to increase or decrease the pen diameter.

Comma

Spell out symbol keys like comma

Press Ctrl+comma to increase the brush size.

Dot and File names

When a speaker says dot DO NOT spell it out, transcribe it with a period.

Transcribe the final version of the file name as it appears on screen.

My email address is [email protected].

Spoken: Ive uploaded the image dot P N G file.

Transcribe as: Ive uploaded the image.png file.

Space bar

Space bar

F three

(or any function key)

Transcribe as the letter and numeral

F3

Double-click

double-click

Double-click the border symbol to open it in symbol editing mode.

OK button

Follow the spelling and formatting shown on screen in the computer interface.

e.g. Capitalize words that are shown as capitalized in the computer interface.

Onlyuse this spelling, OK, when referring to the computer command.

I'm gonna go to the Emulate tab, select Mobile Devices option, then click OK.

CamelCase and code formatting

(Writing compound words or phrases so that each word begins with a capital letter.)

Follow on-screen formatting in computer-related HITs. If a line of computer programming code shows specific spacing, capitalization, and punctuation, use the same in your transcript.

I will be using PowerPoint today.

Use the onCreate method.

Software names

All software and company names must be spelled correctly. If you are not sure, look it up to find correct spelling and formatting.

Use the CrowdSurf Glossary for assistance.

Spoken: V M ware was the first company to successfully virtualize the x eighty-six architecture.

Transcribe as: VMware was the first company to successfully virtualize the x86 architecture.

File Path Instructions

When the speaker instructs the user to go to a menu or to press a certain combination of keys, use the following conventions, with a space on either side of the >.

Spoken: Go to File, then Documents, then Open.

Transcribe as: Go to File > Documents > Open

Back to the top

Section Nine- Internet & Contact Information

Rule

Instruction

Example

Spelling a Name, Address, Word, etc.

If a speaker spells out a last name or street or something, indicate the recitation of letters with hyphens in between each letter.

My name is Christina, C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N-A.

Internet

Internet must always be capitalized.

You must have a stable Internet connection to work on Mturk.

URLs

Transcribe the final web address even if the speaker has completely spelled it out.

Spoken: You can find us at W S J dot com.

Transcribe as: You can find us at WSJ.com

Emails

Transcribe the final email address even if the speaker has completely spelled it out.

Spoken: My email is J O H N dot D O E at g mail dot com.

Transcribe as: My email is [email protected].

Telephone Number

Transcribe the final telephone number in digits and dashes form.

My cell number is (123)-444-5555.

IP Addresses

Transcribe the final IP address in digits and periods form.

98.182.30.194

Hashtags

If used as a word in a sentence, spell out the word hashtag.

If used in the format #blablabla use the pound sign, #

Contact me at the hashtag shown below.

Spoken: Whats your opinion? Let us know at hashtag CrowdSurf.

Transcribe as: Whats your opinion? Let us know at #CrowdSurf.

Twitter handles

Use the at sign, @, when someone references their twitter handle

Find me on Twitter @AshleyEsqueda.

Back to the top

Section Ten- Sample Transcripts!

Rule

Spoken

Correct Transcripts

Clean Verbatim

Punctuation

Currency and Time

Yesterday at around twelve o clock I was, um, visiting, uh, doctor smiths office and he wa- was saying, exercise is an important part of one's cardiovascular regimen

Yesterday, at around 12 o'clock I was visiting Dr. Smith's office. And he was saying exercise is an important part of one's cardiovascular regimen.

Speaker Change Flags

Contact information

Speaker 1: Let's welcome Mary to the call. Mary, how do you spell your last name?

Speaker 2: W O R T H I N as in Nancy G T O N.

Speaker 1: And whats your email address?

Speaker 2: M Worthington at Hotmail dot com.

Let's welcome Mary to the call. Mary how do you spell your last name?

>> W-O-R-T-H-I-N as in Nancy, G-T-O-N.

>> And whats your email address?

>> [email protected].

Numbers

Percentages

Monetary amounts

We've seen a fifty percent increase in our market share, representing over four million dollars in potential revenue

We've seen a 50% increase in our market share, representing over $4 million in potential revenue.

Numbers

Slang

Capitalization of proper nouns

Don't you mean 5 point 1 million? Or are you leavin out latin America?

Don't you mean 5.1 million, or are you leaving out Latin America?

Sentence breakpoints

On-screen formatting

Computer Coding

Camel Case

We give you the code for actually downloading the, uh, the image so its called download image, you give it a context and a url that you want to download, and it goes and does a bunch of magic to download things

Shown on screen: (line of code) public static Url downloadImage

We give you the code for actually downloading the image. So it's called downloadImage. You give it a context and a URL that you want to download. And it goes and does a bunch of magic to download things.

On-screen formatting

Math variables

Sound tags

The first property [clears throat], states that A to the N times a to the m equals a to the N plus M, and is often referred to as the product rule.

Shown on screen:

Product Rule: An x Am = A(n+m)

The first property [COUGH] states that A to the n x A to the m is equal to A to the (n+m), and is often referred to as the Product Rule.

Speaker change flags

Speaker Interruptions

Punctuation

Spelling consistency

Research unknown terms

Speaker 1: Will we be discussing ciphertexts this semester? Or is- (interrupted by second speaker)

Speaker 2: Cypher texts, also known as encoded or encrypted information will be part of our discussion on touring machines and the different algorhythms that are used in a computers cpu.

Will we be discussing ciphertexts this semester? Or is-

>> Ciphertexts, also known as encoded or encrypted information, will be part of our discussion on Turing machines and the different algorithms that are used in a computer's CPU.

Sound tags

Slang

(violin note for 2seconds) Okay, just went a little bit sharp. NowI'mgonna give a tug for a little slack. And test it again. (violin note for 4 seconds) Perfect.

[SOUND] Okay, just went a little bit sharp. NowI'mgonna give a tug for a little slack. And test it again. [SOUND] Perfect.

Download and print your own copy by clicking the links below!

Welcome to your Work History Dashboard

This is something to get excited about and there is so much more coming.

Dashboard Earnings

To help you keep track of the HITsyou'veworked and your total earnings we display your Payment and Review Stats, accessible on the Stats tab onceyou'veaccepted a task in Mturk or CrowdSurfWork.

Learn more here

Payment and Review History

This link will give you a detailed look at your work history.

It includes an individualized view of the tasks you worked and specific information for each individual task including the score received. This dashboard is updated in real time.

Click on the QC score for more detailed feedback on your transcripts!

You can see how your HITs are scored and what corrections were made to your transcripts straight from your Work History dashboard.

about receiving feedback on your transcription tasks.

Bonus Pay now on Wednesday!

Hello CrowdSurfers,

We have some very important bonus updates to share with you. Weekly Bonus payments will now be made on Wednesday before 11:59pm PT.Instead of Mondays, you will now receive payments on Wednesday for Weekly Transcription, Media Minute and Special Handling bonuses.We also have an update for your Special Handling bonus starting March 28, 2016.In order to continue offering bonuses and incentive offers we will also change the Special Handling Weekly Bonus to $0.05 per approved media minute.Thank you!

In case you missed them, here are our previous bonus updates:

Starting Monday 3/14/16, bonuses are no longer available on Mturk.

Starting Monday 3/14/16, all Team Bonuses have been discontinued.

Just a reminder that you can join us on CrowdSurfWork via Work Market for full payment and full bonuses. See more details here.Please let us know if you have any questions about these updates.

Best,Your CrowdSurf Support Team

CrowdSurf Mechanical Turk NDA/Terms Of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms & Conditions (Terms as a Contract)

1.1. CrowdSurf-Transcriptionist Relationship. These Terms & Conditions govern the relationship between CrowdSurf (CrowdSurf) and you (You, Your, Transcriber or Transcriptionist), and your contracted employment with CrowdSurf via Mechanical Turk, and upon acceptance constitute a legally binding contract.

1.2. Agreeing to the Terms. To begin your contracted employment, you must agree to the Terms disclosed herein. To agree to the Terms, click to accept the Terms where this option is given during the registration process.

1.3. Legal Age & Contractual Capacity. Contracted employment with CrowdSurf is limited to persons age eighteen (18) or older, and an individual legally capable, by U.S. law, of entering into a legally binding contract with CrowdSurf. Acceptance of the Terms represents admission of authorization of legal age and signatory capacity. At its discretion, CrowdSurf reserves the right to terminate its relationship with any Transcriptionist who is found to have submitted inaccurate information or misrepresented themselves in any manner.

1.4. Amendments to the Terms. The Terms of Service may be amended at any time by CrowdSurf. An updated version of the Terms will be posted to http://www.CrowdSurf.com/nda to inform Transcriptionist. The most recent Terms will take precedence and replace all prior agreements between CrowdSurf and Transcriptionist. If Transcriptionist no longer accepts the new Terms, Transcriptionist must terminate their contracted employment with CrowdSurf immediately.

CrowdSurf materials contained on the Mechanical Turk website will only be used as is permitted by the Terms and any law, regulation or guideline in appropriate jurisdictions

CrowdSurf jobs will not be accessed or attempted to be accessed through any means other than the user interface provided, including through any automated means. This includes, but is not limited to, any attempt to breach security features, to probe or test the websites defenses, or to access any CrowdSurf system or network for which the Transcriptionist has no authorization

Transcriptionist will not access jobs, content, or data for which the Transcriptionist has no authorization

Transcriptionist will not act in any way that leads to the interference or disruption of CrowdSurf jobs available on Mechanical Turk or any equipment connected with posting or processing these jobs

Transcriptionist will not duplicate, reproduce, trade, sell, resell, publish or exploit any part of the audio files, or transcribed content at any time

Transcriptionist is completely responsible for any violation of the Terms and is liable for all consequences that may result from such a violation. This includes any loss or damage suffered by CrowdSurf or its clients as a result of Transcriptionists violation

2. Conditions of CrowdSurf Contracted Employment

2.1. Non-Disclosure Agreement. CrowdSurf provides secure and confidential voice to text transcription services to its clients. Upon acceptance of the Terms, you commit to holding all CrowdSurf materials that you have access to secure and confidential. Transcriptionist will do all in their power to protect CrowdSurf materials from eyes and ears not approved for access to these materials. This includes but is not limited to: audio files, text transcripts, and all information contained therein. Transcriptionist is forbidden from recording, copying, saving, sharing or discussing these materials at any time, in any manner, including by means of the Internet.

2.2. Background Checks. CrowdSurf may conduct a background check of its Transcriptionists upon employment. By agreeing to the Terms, you give irrevocable permission to CrowdSurf to conduct such background checks at its discretion.

2.3 Transcriptionists Agreement to Use. By accepting the Terms, Transcriptionist agrees to the following regarding use of Website:

2.4. Account Access. CrowdSurf and its affiliates and/or subsidiaries reserve the right to access Transcriptionists account content and completed work on an as needed basis in order to manage CrowdSurf clients accounts and our employment contract with Transcriptionist.

2.5. Criminal/Civil Liabilities. Any Transcriptionist who violates any stipulation of the Terms may be subject to the full extent of the law, including holding said person to civil and/or criminal liability. CrowdSurf will cooperate directly with appropriate law enforcement in the case of any investigation related to a violation of the Terms.

2.6. Payment. Payments are made via Mechanical Turk. CrowdSurf is not responsible for any delay in payment caused by Mechanical Turk, non-delivery of payment due to mail delivery services, or denial of payment by Mechanical Turk for any reason.

It is your responsibility to maintain proper posture and good health. Transcriptionist agrees that CrowdSurf will not be held responsible for any damage to health in any way as a result of time spent working for CrowdSurf. Transcriptionist works at their own risk. CrowdSurf does not provide professional medical advise.

3. CrowdSurf Transcription

3.1. Equipment Requirements. Working as a CrowdSurfcriptionist requires a high speed Internet connection (DSL or Cable through a third-party provider), and either high quality speakers or headphones. Ideally, the headphones should be noise-cancelling.

3.2. Health & Posture. As Transcriptionists may sit in front of a computer and transcribe for long periods of time, CrowdSurf recommends the following to sustain good health:

Maintain proper posture while sitting to prevent fatigue or soreness in your back and neck;

Maintain a reasonable sound level when using headphones or speakers to prevent damage to hearing;

If required to type a transcript, maintain proper typing posture with wrist support to limit the risk of developing Carpel Tunnel Syndrome;

Practice the 20-20-20 method to prevent eye strain – every 20 minutes look 20 feet away from you for 20 seconds

Periodically stand and stretch your legs

Consult your physician, health care professional, or other health care resources you deem appropriate to: 1) determine whether or not transcription using a computer poses health risks for you, and 2) develop your own plan to prevent injury and maintain health

4. Transcriptionist Conduct

4.1. Transcription Accuracy. It is CrowdSurf intent to provide accurate transcripts to its clients. Transcriptionist agrees to be solely responsible for the quality and accuracy of the transcribed content you are contracted to create. Transcriptionist is liable for the consequences of the act of intentionally altering or falsifying the transcript in any way that deviates from the audio file you receive, and for any loss or damage suffered by CrowdSurf or CrowdSurf clients as a direct result. No responsibility may be attributed to CrowdSurf or any third party.

4.2.Quality Control. In order to provide quality control of the final transcripts provided to CrowdSurf clients, the transcripts you create may be accessed, viewed or edited by any authorized CrowdSurf representative. A consistent level of high quality work and/or improvements in the level of your work may be rewarded financially or in merit form at the discretion of CrowdSurf. Consequently, if CrowdSurf determines your transcriptions to be of low quality or if your work is failing to progress, CrowdSurf reserves the right to require you to participate in further training or to alter your access to CrowdSurf jobs, including termination, at any time our discretion.

4.3. Appropriateness of Content. Transcriptionist must agree that the contents of audio files provided to you by CrowdSurf for transcription are not endorsed by CrowdSurf. This includes, but is not limited to, content which is libelous, threatening, harassing, abusive, obscene, offensive, an infringement of any third party intellectual property rights, or related to a potential criminal or civil offense.

4.4 Reporting Inappropriate Content. The contents of all audio files provided by CrowdSurf for transcription are subject to any applicable local, state, national or international laws and regulations. If Transcriptionist becomes aware of any content that you feel may violate such laws or regulations, you are responsible for reporting said content to the Requester immediately.

4.5 Unavoidable Barriers To Perfect Transcription. CrowdSurf does not warrant that audio recordings provided to Transcriptionist will be free from error or 100% audible. CrowdSurf also realizes that your transcribed work may contain unavoidable inaccuracies due to unusual slang, regional dialects, or obscure names, words, or phrases contained within audio recordings. Transcriptionist always retains the right to reject a transcription job if you do not know how to handle such audio recordings.

4.6. Transcription Formatting. CrowdSurf acknowledges that spoken word is often very different from proper grammar and may be in the form of run-on sentences. You will need to use your language proficiency knowledge and skills to ensure that punctuation is placed in the appropriate locations.

4.7 Transcription Consistency. CrowdSurf asks that Transcriptionist refer to and follow the Transcription Formatting Guide to consistently format your transcriptions. CrowdSurf recommends printing the guide for quick reference during transcription.

4.8. Unauthorized Account Use. Transcriptionist is responsible for any unauthorized use of their Mechanical Turk account, whether known or unknown, by a third party. Transcriptionist must contact CrowdSurf immediately if you notice any unauthorized use of your account.

5. Password Confidentiality & Account Security

5.1. Password Confidentiality. As a Transcriptionist, you agree and understand that you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any usernames, passwords or PINs which may gain access to your Mechanical Turk account. In the case of any unauthorized use of your account, username, password or PIN, you agree to immediately inform CrowdSurf of this activity.

5.2. Account Security. For any loss incurred as a result of unauthorized use of your account, password or PIN, whether known or unknown, CrowdSurf will not be held liable. You are solely responsible to CrowdSurf for all activities that may occur under your personal account.

6. Privacy & Personal Information

6.1. Account Access. CrowdSurf may be required by a governmental or legal request to access and/or disclose your personal information and the details of your CrowdSurf work in the case of a search warrant, subpoena, court order, or other legal process. In accepting these Terms, Transcriptionist verifies CrowdSurf right to do so.

6.2. Storage of Work. Jobs you process for CrowdSurf may be stored and processed in a CrowdSurf facility or a facility of its agents in the United States.

7. Proprietary Rights & Intellectual Property

7.1. CrowdSurf Intellectual Property. The use of CrowdSurf brand names, logos, domain names, trademarks, servicemarks, copyrighted materials, patents or any other brand elements unique to CrowdSurf and its Services is strictly prohibited, unless you have entered into a written agreement with CrowdSurf detailing otherwise. If such an agreement exists, brand elements approved for use must be handled in compliance with the guidelines specific to that agreement.

8. Termination of Employment

8.1. Termination By CrowdSurf. Transcriptionists contracted employment may be terminated at any time, for any reason by CrowdSurf. Additionally, CrowdSurf may terminate its agreement with you if you refuse to comply with the Terms or act in a manner that breaches the Terms. At its sole discretion, CrowdSurf may also deny Transcriptionist access to CrowdSurf jobs at any time without prior notice.

8.2. Termination By Transcriptionist. Transcriptionists contracted employment may be terminated at any time, for any reason by the Transcriptionist.

8.3. Termination of Agreement. The termination of your contracted employment is also the termination of the Terms, relieving CrowdSurf and ex-Transcriptionist of any obligations or rights contained therein, except where such obligations or rights are stated to continue indefinitely.

8.4. CrowdSurf Waiver of Rights. If CrowdSurf should fail to implement and/or enforce any portion of these Terms, it will not constitute a waiver of any rights or provisions laid out in the Terms, unless such a waiver is agreed to by CrowdSurf in writing.

9. Indemnification

9.1. Indemnification. Transcriptionist agrees to indemnify and hold harmless CrowdSurf and its officers, directors, affiliates, subsidiaries, representatives, agents and employees from and against any and all costs, damages, claims, demands, expenses, suits, judgments, and losses (including, but not limited to, reasonable legal costs) due to the Transcriptionists breach of these Terms. The same applies to any third-party claims or suits which may arise as the result of your use of the Website. This section of the Terms shall remain active even upon termination of these Terms.

10. Legal Claims

10.1. Agreement Governance. These Terms is governed by and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of California without regard to its conflict of laws provisions or Transcriptionists actual place of residency. All claims and disputes arising from these Terms will be brought solely to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts in Santa Barbara County, California, and must be filed within one (1) year of such claim, as it will thereafter be waived and barred. Despite this stipulation, CrowdSurf may apply for injunctive remedies in the jurisdiction of its choosing.

10.2. Invalid Provisions. If any provision of these Terms is ruled invalid by a court of law having jurisdiction in this matter, that provision will be stricken from the Terms, leaving the remaining provisions in effect and enforceable.

10.3. Section Headings. The section headings in the Terms are for convenience only, and have no legal or contractual consequence.

11. Notices (Contacting Transcriptionists)

11.1 Contacting Transcriptionists. CrowdSurf reserves the right to contact Transcriptionists at its own discretion regarding its jobs, services, changes to these Terms, and other issues which may pertain to Transcriptionists employment. Transcriptionist consents to allow CrowdSurf Requester to contact you via email, posting on the Website, or through other means via the Internet while accessing the Website.

12. Changes to the Agreement & Services

12.1. CrowdSurf Right To Change Terms. CrowdSurf reserves the right to change or alter these Terms at any time for any reason. The revised version will be available to Transcriptionists via posting on http://www.CrowdSurf.com/nda. It is Your responsibility to check these Terms periodically to review any changes.

12.2. Acceptance of Terms. Your decision to continue your contracted employment with CrowdSurf is your acceptance of any changes to the Terms. If you do not accept the changes, you must terminate your employment immediately.

Last Updated: December 6, 2012 2012 CrowdSurf, Inc., all rights reserved.

Back to the top

Section Three- Punctuation

Rule

Instruction

Example

General Punctuation

Use proper punctuation whenever possible.

Begin all HITs with a capital letter, end all HITs with a period.

Exception: If you are confident the HIT ends mid-sentence leave the sentence without punctuation.

Discouraged Punctuation Marks

Em-dash --

Ellipses

Quotation Marks

Semi-colon ;

Colon :

Exception: When punctuation is shown on screen in computer programming media, on-screen formatting takes precedence over punctuation rules.

I just read The Hunger Games.

She said my email address is [email protected].

Speaker Interruption

Use an en-dash to indicate a mid-sentence interruption by a second speaker

Do not use an en-dash if the speaker interrupts him/herself.

Jiminy Crick- >> Oh my!

Punctuation and Numbers

Do not use an apostrophe with ages or decades.

Do not use a dash with number ranges, spell out to or through.

The 60s were an exciting time in the US.

You should exercise every day for 30 to 40 minutes.

Sentence Style & Breakpoints

Break up run-on sentences.

Join sentence fragments.

Think about how your sentences will be displayed on screen as video captions.

Hint: Generally 40-60 characters is the optimal sentence length.

Ideal Transcript: Okay, now you can see that once again we've got the preview going on. If I click Submit you can see that it does not make a request.

Too long: Okay, now you can see that once again we've got the preview going on, if I click Submit you can see that it does not make a request.

Too short: Okay. Now you can see that once again. Weve got the preview going on. If I click Submit. You can see that it does not make a request.

Log in now!

Welcometo Level 5! You Earned It

Congratulations!

You have done excellent work on Full Text Reviews forCrowdSurf. Because you have consistently submitted quality work, we would like to grant you access to more work and better bonuses! (Details Below)

Congratulations once again, and we're excited to continue working with you.

Sincerely, YourCrowdSurfSupport Team

Level 5! 1. What is Level 5? 2. How much do I make in Level 5? 3. Your Success in Level 5 4. Tracking Your Work 5. Payment Method 6. Logging In to CrowdSurfWork 7. Next Steps! 8. Log In FAQ's

1. What is Level 5?

Level 5CrowdSurfers gain access to3 new task types:

Quality Control Tasks

Timing Review Tasks

Special Handling- Critical tasks

Speaker ID

All of your FTR expertise is essentialin Level 5!In Quality Control,you scoresentences from Full Text Transcripts;in Timing Review you retime text that was flagged in FTR; and in Special Handling tasksyouperform a rigorous Full Text Review and Retiming pass with a tight deadline, and in Speaker ID you will ensure that all speakers are given a name/ID throughout the media! This is your chance to rise to the challenge of exciting new tasks! See tutorials below !

2. How much do I make in Level 5?

Full Text Review =$0.17/mmfor editing and flagging incorrect timing.

Quality Control = $0.17/mm qc'ed forgrading sentences.

Timing Review = $0.18/mm timed sentences for retiming incorrect captions.

Special Handling-Critical = $0.20/mm for Clean Verbatim Editing and Retiming of full length transcripts. Earn an additional $0.10/mm when your task passes QC!

Speaker ID = $0.15/mm for identifying all speakers and correcting speaker changes throughout media.

These tasks have a higher effective pay rate than our Transcription HITs and our Review HITs.

3. Your Success in Level 5

To stay inLevel 5we need you to keep delivering high quality work. This means aQC Score between 3.75 and 3.80and a targetApproval Rating of 90% on FTR and Special Handling-Critical. If your score falls below these qualitylevelswe will provide feedback on your mistakes. Our goal is to help you be as successful as possible with CrowdSurfWork. Review the QCGuidelines, Timing Review Tutorial, Special Handling Critical Guidelines and the Speaker ID Guidelines for Level 5 Best Practices!

4. Tracking Your Work Please use your Work History Dashboard (available through the Stats Tab of accepted HITs)to keep track of your QC Reject. 5. Payment Method

You will be paidper media minuteon for your Level 5 tasks. This means that a 10 minute Special Handlingtask is worth $2.00. The longer the task, the more you earn! Timing Review tasks are paid per timed sentence media minute, as you work on flagged sentences, not the entire job. QC tasks are paid per QC'ed sentence media minute from the sentences that you score. Similarly, Speaker ID tasks are paid peridentified sentence media minute. All of your work will be paid after you submit the HIT. You will earn the base price immediately upon submission, then the remainder of your per media minute payment will be delivered as a bonus to your CrowdSurfWork account! This is considered the task base rate payment. CrowdSurfWork Bonusesare in addition to the taskbase rates. Bonus requirements are subject to change.Bonus announcements are posted every week on the CrowdSurf Blog.

6. Next Steps!

When you submit at least 50 Timing, Special Handling, QC, and Speaker ID tasks with a Special Handling QC Score between 3.75+ you will become eligible for Level 6work. Level 6CrowdSurfers have access to QC- Reject Tasks ($0.20). With every CrowdSurf Promotion you unlock access to new and better work!

You are one of our highest performing workers and we want to thank you for all your hard work! We are excited to have you in Level 5!

Please help us clear the QC queue today!

Link to QC Training Guide

Log in now!

Welcometo Level 6! You Earned It!

Congratulations!

You have done excellent work on Special Handling, QC, and Timing Reviews forCrowdSurf. Because you have consistently submitted quality work, we would like to grant you access to more work and better bonuses! (Details Below)

You will now be responsible for delivering high quality work on some of CrowdSurf's most challenging tasks! We know you can do it!

Congratulations once again, and we're excited to continue working with you.

Sincerely, YourCrowdSurfSupport Team

Level 6! 1. What is Level 6? 2. How much do I make in Level 6? 3. Your Success in Level6 4. Tracking Your Work 5. Payment Method 6. Logging In to CrowdSurfWork 7. Next Steps!

1. What is Level 6?

Level 6 CrowdSurfers gain access to QC Reject tasks!

QC Reject tasks are quality sensitive tasks that failed Quality Control after FTR. Now they require a Final Review by an experienced, high level worker, YOU! In QC Reject you will edit and identify timing errors like you did in Full Text Review, but you'll get paid more to do it!

Pretty great right?! Now that you're in Level 6 we will have higher expectations for the accuracy of your work! We will need you to use all context clues, perform some Internet research for correct spelling and formatting, and process each job with a critical eye for details- sometimes it's the difference between 'course's' and 'Courses" that causes a job to fail the QC process.!

This is your chance to rise to the challenge of exciting new tasks! See tutorials below !

2. How much do I make in Level 6?

Full Text Review =$0.17/mmfor editing and flagging incorrect timing.

Quality Control = $0.17/mm qc'ed forgrading sentences.

Timing Review = $0.18/mm timed sentences for retiming incorrect captions.

Special Handling-Critical = $0.20/mm for Clean Verbatim Editing and Retiming of full length transcripts. Earn an additional $0.10/mm when your task passes QC!

AND NOW, QC Reject tasks = $0.20/mm for editing and flagging incorrect timing

These tasks have a higher effective pay rate than our Transcription HITs and our Review HITs in MTurk.

3. Your Success in Level 6

To stay inLevel 6 we need you to keep delivering high quality work. This means aQC Score between 3.8 and 3.9and a targetApproval Rating of 90% on all QC Reject tasks. If your score falls below these qualitylevelswe will provide feedback on your mistakes. Our goal is to help you be as successful as possible with CrowdSurf work! Review the QCGuidelines and General Guidelines for Level 6 Best Practices!

4. Tracking Your Work Please use your Work History Dashboard on the CrowdSurfWork platform to keep track of your QC Reject.

If you are working via MTurk, you can add your MTurk ID to this URL and bookmark it for future reference. https://work.crowdsurfwork.com/reports/work_data/worker/?crowd_worker_id=YOURMTURKID&crowd_name=Mechanical%20Turk

5. Payment Method

You will be paidper media minuteon for your Level 6 tasks. This means that a 10 minute QC Reject task is worth $2.00. The longer the task, the more you earn! All of your work will be paid after you submit the HIT. You will earn the base price immediately upon submission, then the remainder of your per media minute payment will be delivered as a bonus to your CSW or MTurkaccount! This is considered the task base rate payment. Media Minute Bonusesare in addition to the taskbase rates.Bonus announcements are posted every week on the CrowdSurf Blog. You are responsible for checking the blog weekly for any Bonus requirement changes*.

*Bonus terms and conditions are subject to change.

8. Next Steps!

When you submit at least 100 QC Reject tasks with a QC Score between 3.8-3.9 and an approval rating of 90% or better you will become eligible for Level 7 work. Level 7 CrowdSurfers have access to special and elite assignments. With every CrowdSurf Promotion you unlock access to new and better work!

You are one of our highest performing workers on CrowdSurf! We want to thank you for all your hard work! We are excited to have you in Level 6!

Please help us clear the QC Reject queue today! We're counting on you!

Sample Transcripts can be fun to look through as well as very helpful. You may want to look through these periodically as a refresher.

Sample Transcript Document

HIT Dispute Tool

We are so excited to introduce a new automated way to dispute your HIT scores!

We understand that there will often be minor disagreements between workers about how to apply CrowdSurf style and General Guidelines. For the first time ever we have an efficient, effective way to mediate these HIT score disagreements!

CrowdSurfers, meet the HIT Dispute Tool!

The HIT Dispute Tool makes your life easier by wrapping the entire dispute process into a neat little button on your Work History Dashboard.

http://crowdsurfwork.com/2015/07/how-to-dispute-your-hit-scores/.

This dispute button will send us all of the required information for a HIT Dispute.

This includes:

Your worker ID

The job ID

Your transcript

The score awarded by the reviewer

And a brief description of why the review is incorrect

Then we take all of this information and evaluate the review. You should hear back from us within two business days regarding the status of your review.

The best part is, is when you use the automated Dispute Tool we are able to adjust your score on successfully disputed HITs. Thats right, for the first time ever we are able to adjust your HIT score on disputed HITs!

Heres how you dispute an unfair HIT score:

Go to your Transcription Work History Dashboard.

Your Work History Dashboard is available from the Stats tab of every accepted CrowdSurf HITs in Mturk.

Alternatively, if you would like to bookmark the link for the Dashboard please just insert your Mturk ID where it says YOURMTURKID:

https://work.crowdsurfwork.com/reports/work_data/worker/?crowd_worker_id=YOURMTURKID&crowd_name=Mechanical%20Turk

Click on a blue score to view your Review Feedback

HITs are randomly sampled to be reviewed. Click on the blue score to review your HIT feedback and use the dispute tool if necessary. The HITs with dashes were not reviewed and cannot be disputed.

Click Dispute on an unfair HIT

If you disagree with a HIT Review and you have available disputes, then you can click Dispute to have a member of the CrowdSurf team review the dispute.

You will have a limited number of disputes, so we encourage you to use your disputes wisely. You will have a maximum of 3 disputes for every 100 HITs that are reviewed. It may make sense for you to spend your disputes on your lowest scored HITs.

Write a brief description why this score deserves to be disputed

Once you click on Dispute, a box will pop up prompting you to Provide a specific reason why the score is not correct and our team will evaluate the review and your reason.

Please explain exactly why you feel the score is not correct, and what guidelines, if any, the reviewer has violated. When youre done click Submit Dispute.

Once your dispute has been submitted

Youll receive a notification that states Your dispute has been submitted and will be reviewed by our resolution team within the next 48 hours.

No further action is required at this point, the dispute request has been received by our system and will be processed by the CrowdSurf Team.

Return to your Dashboard to check status

Disputed HITs will be highlighted red on your Work History Dashboard. Once your dispute has been reviewed by the CrowdSurf team, it will say Approved or Rejected and your score will be adjusted accordingly.

Things to know about the HIT Dispute Tool:

You will have a maximum of 3 disputes at any given time.

Disputes do not refresh based on calendar dates, but rather new disputes are accrued based on the number of reviewed HITs in your work history. This means that available disputes is tied to the volume of HITs you complete.

You can earn another dispute for every 100 HITs reviewed.

If you have 300+ HITs reviewed in your entire work history with CrowdSurf you will start with 3 disputes available.

If you are new to CrowdSurf, you will start with 0 reviews and will earn your first one after 100 HITs have been reviewed.

You cannot accrue new disputes if you already have the maximum number of disputes available.

If you already have the maximum number of disputes, you must use a dispute (and work more HITs) to accrue a new dispute.

The tooltip that appears when you hover over the Dispute button will tell you how many disputes you have left.

The Dispute Tool will change your score on an approved dispute.

If you have a concern about a reviewer that you would like to bring to our attention beyond submitting a dispute, please follow the manual How-to Dispute your HIT Score Guide:

Back to the top

Section Four- Numbers

Write out numbers zero through ten, numbers above ten represent with numerical digits.

Rule

Instruction

Example

Writing Out Numbers zero through ten

Write out all numbers zero through ten, unless they are part of the following:

Court rulings (4-3),

Sports records (10-7-0),

Height measurements (6'9")

Mathematical or scientific equations or computer code (transcribe as seen in lecture slides)

Time (12:15PM)

List (1. Sign up 2. Log in...)

Biblical references (John 3:16)

Storage units (1 GB)

Binary (0101)

Dates (April 7th, 2015)

These are two of the ideas that I want to share.

Spoken: Two times two equals four.

Shown on screen: 2 x 2 = 4

Transcribe as: 2 x 2 = 4.

Numerals for Numbers 11 and above

Write numerically all numbers between 11 and above.

For numbers above 999,999, substitute million, billion, etc. for the zeros.

Incorrect: This new policy will affect roughly 400 thousand people in New Mexico.

Their tour will stop in 21 cities around North America.

This new policy will affect roughly 400,000 people in New Mexico.

Shes got 1 million new followers on Twitter.

Imprecise Number Amounts

For imprecise numerical amounts spell out the numbers.

This applies when the speaker is estimating or using an exaggeration which is not intended to be a precise quantity.

Examples: a few hundred, a few thousand, a million

Spoken: We need to raise a hundred dollars.

Transcribe as: We need to raise $100.

Spoken: The team raised a few hundred dollars.

Transcribe as: The team raised a few hundred dollars.

Spoken: I've got about a billion things to do today.

Transcribe as: I've got about a billion things to do today.

Range of Numbers and Consistency

Do Not use a dash, always spell out to

Use consistent formatting within sentences, use numerals (when at least one of the numbers is over 10) for quantities with related units, lists, or numbers with a statistical relationship.

The President will need 60 to 70% approval rating in the polls.

Skip ahead 10 to 20 frames and click Play.

Ordinal Numbers First, Second, Third, etc.

Spell out the word for first through tenth.

Use numerals for 11th and above.

I will be visiting their second grade class on June 25th.

She was first woman admitted in the 19th century.

Roman Numerals

Use Roman numerals to describe sequences like in wars, events, or people.

World War II, King John II, Super Bowl XLIX

Percentages

Use the numeral followed by %, unless speaker uses a fraction of a percent.

Exception: Do not use % if a number is not associated with it.

57%

What percent correct do I need to get an A in this class?

Spoken: Were seeing an increase of a quarter of a percent versus last years increase of twelve percent.

Transcribe as: Were seeing an increase of a quarter of a percent versus last years increase of 12%.

Decimal Numbers

If the number is less than one, then use a leading 0 before the decimal point.

0.7 seconds, 0.5%

Year

No apostrophe necessary when referencing the time period.

The 1980s, the 60s

Age

Dont add zeros when referencing age range or quantity.

She is probably in her thirties.

He wrote hundreds of pages.

FTR Training Guide PDF

*FTR Training Guide requires updates, please use Clean Verbatim on all FTR transcripts, unless otherwise specified in per-job Special Guidelines

Work Market& CrowdSurfWork Platform FAQ

These are the most common questions from New CrowdSurfers.

If you don't see your question addressed here, please feel free to email the CrowdSurf Support team at [email protected] with your Work Market ID for more help.

Why should I work with CrowdSurf on Work Market?

How do I join CrowdSurf on Work Market?

Work Market won't accept my location, what do I do?

I have created my Work Market account, now what, where's the work?

I lost my CrowdSurfWork/Work Market login information.

Where can I find my Work Market ID?

Where can I find the Job ID?

When can I expect to be paid?

What are batch payments?

My CrowdSurfWork Receipt Total says I have earned x, but my Work Market account only shows y?

What are your standard base payments?

What are your bonus rates?

I think I was paid too much/too little, what should I do?

How can I check feedback for my transcription work?

Where are my "Edit the Transcription" tasks counted?

Can I retake my CrowdSurf Transcription Assessment?

I have issues with a transcript or review HIT, what can I do?

What does my CrowdSurfqualification score mean and why does it go up and down?

How do I score a perfect 4 on every transcription HIT?

I'm working on CrowdSurf review Hits, what do I do?

How do I continue to work on CrowdSurf HITs?

How come there are so many CrowdSurf HITs at times and then so few HITs at other times?

Why does Mturk show a different number of HITs than CrowdSurfWork?

How do I find CrowdSurf HITs about specific subjects or that are high priority?

How do I find the best paying CrowdSurf HITs?

I am reviewing a clip with challenging audio and the worker used [INAUDIBLE] OR [UNKNOWN], but I can not understand the speaker?

What does CrowdSurf do with my transcript?

I want to learn more about "Freelance transcribing", who do I talk to?

How do I learn about new CrowdSurf offers and bonuses on Work Market?

I keep receiving empty HITs/I keep receiving HITs with foreign language, what do I do?

My QC score for Review HITs is low, what's wrong?

How do I get promoted?

1. Why should I work with CrowdSurf on Work Market?

ANSWER: CrowdSurfers who work through Work Market earn 10% more than CrowdSurfers who work on Mechanical Turk. This means that if you're working in the " Transcribe up to 35 Seconds of Media to Text - Earn up to $0.17 per HIT!! " queue and you get a 35 second task, you'll earn $0.17 in Work Market, but only $0.153 in Mechanical Turk.

Switch to Work Market to earn the maximum amount on all CrowdSurf tasks! Learn more and get a Work Market account HERE.

2. How do I join CrowdSurf on Work Market?

ANSWER: Work Market is CrowdSurf's hiring and payment platform. All work will be performed on our private editing platform CrowdSurfWork, and paid through Work Market.

It's easy to get started, just create a Work Market account via this link, take our assessment, then wait for your new login instructions.

If you have previously worked with CrowdSurf on other platforms and you need additional qualifications, just email us with your Work Market ID after you have received your new CrowdSurfWork login instructions.

Learn more about getting started on Work Market here and here.

3.Work Market won't accept my location, what do I do?

ANSWER:If you start to type your country, then select it from the pop-up, that helps. If it doesn't like your street address, do it the same way. Start typing then pick it from the pop-up. Please contact Work Market support for more assistance with this issue.

4. I have created my Work Market account, now what, where's the work?

ANSWER: If you have successfully set up your account and passed the CrowdSurf Transcription Assessment, just wait for us to create your account and send you login instructions. This can take 3-7 business days after you complete the Transcription Assessment.

Work will be available only on the CrowdSurfWork platform, you must wait for your login instructions to begin working.

5. I lost my CrowdSurfWork/Work Market login information.

ANSWER: You will receive an email with your CrowdSurfWork username, password, and CSW ID when your CrowdSurfWork account has been created. Please save this email and keep this information handy.

You can retrieve your login information for the CrowdSurfWork platform here: http://crowdsurfwork.com/crowdsurfwork-workmarket-log-in-instructions/

Please note, we currently do not support password changes on the CrowdSurfWork site.

If you need help with your Work Market login, username or password, please contact the Work Market support team.

6. Where can I find my Work Market ID?

ANSWER: Itson your dashboard on Work Market. Look for it under MyProfile athttps://www.workmarket.com/home .

From the Home Page hover over your profile picture on the upper right corner until a drop down menu opens. Click on My Profile.

[email protected]

On the My Profile page you will find a User ID under the Overview tab, this is your Work Market ID.

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7. Where can I find the Job ID?

ANSWER: The Job ID is available at the bottom of the Help Tab on every HIT. Please include the Job ID and your worker ID in messages to CrowdSurf Support.

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8. When can I expect to be paid?

ANSWER: With Work Market you will now receive one payment for each batch of tasks completed in CrowdSurfWork. The number of tasks in each batch, and the timing of payments depend on your level of activity. Each batch will be paid after approximately an hour of inactivity. This will allow for more reliable CrowdSurfWork payments to your Work Market account.

Here are some examples: If you work for 40 minutes and then do not work for at least an hour, you will receive a single payment for all of the work completed in your 40 minutes of activity. Alternatively, if you work for 4 hours, take a 30 minute break, and then work for 2 more hours before stopping for the day, all of your tasks from the 6 hours of activity will be paid in one payment, likely while you are sleeping. Batch payments are designed to reduce the number of "cancelled", "invalid", "voided" notifications that you receive on Work Market.

Troubleshooting Missing Payments:

"I work on the CS platform and get paid on the Workmarket platform. All my jobs have gone pending since the 17th of June. Below is a screen shot of my zero payments and zero receipt numbers. "

If you suddenly stop receiving payments for approved tasks completed on the CrowdSurf Work Platform, please review your account settings immediately. Accounts that are set to private, WILL NOT receive payments, as this will block all CrowdSurf payments to your work market account.

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9. What are batch payments?

ANSWER: A batch payment is a singlepayment in Work Market for each batch of tasks completed in CrowdSurfWork. No more 1:1 payment to task ratio! The number of tasks in each batch, and the timing of payments depends on your level of activity.This will allow for more reliable CrowdSurfWork payments to your Work Market account.

Here is what it looks like: Anonymous worker works 9 Transcription Review Tasks in CrowdSurfWork, totaling to $0.85 as depicted in the CrowdSurfWork Transcription Review Dashboard. Anonymous Worker stops working for at least an hour and checks Work Market for payments received. A single payment of $0.85 comes through Work Market for the batch of 9 Transcription Review HITs worked on CrowdSurfWork. Here's a closer look!

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10. My CrowdSurfWork Receipt Total says I have earned x, but my Work Market account only shows y?

"Under Payment Summary on my dashboard it says the payment amount total is $8.30, but under the Receipt Amount it lists $180.62. I was under the impression that the payment amount was not per HIT, but per so many words, like .10 per so many words, for example. When I checked Work Market, there is $8.30 in my account."

ANSWER: CrowdSurf pays per task on short Transcription HITs, and per media minute on Full Length tasks like Full Text Review. Your Payment Summary tab on your Work History Dashboard shows how much you earn.

The Payment Amount total accurately reflects your total earnings. The Receipt Total total multiplies your batch payments and incorrectly inflates your earnings.

Please use the Payment Amount column to verify or reconcile earnings collected on Work Market.

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11. What are your standard base payments?

ANSWER:Base rates for CrowdSurfHITs are subject to change. Base rates are determined on both the length and priority of the HIT. When you log in to your CrowdSurf account search for the 'High Priority' HITs with the higher payouts.

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12. What are your bonus rates?

ANSWER: *Bonuses change often. Updated CrowdSurf bonus information can be found on our website.

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13. I think I was paid too much/too little, what should I do?

ANSWER:Oops! Mistakes happen and if you feel like you have been paid incorrectly please contact us at [email protected]. Please always include your Work Market ID in the email.

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14. Can I retake my CrowdSurf qualification test?

ANSWER:No, but you can email us at [email protected] with your Work Market ID and we can set you up with new test material or assign qualifications to you. Please always include your Work Market ID in the email.

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15. How can I check feedback for my transcription work?

Feedback for your transcription work is available on your Work History Dashboard. Your Work History Dashboard can be accessed from the Stats tab of accepted tasks, or directly from the Dashboard tab if you are working on CrowdSurfWork. Learn more here about quality feedback.

16. Where are my "Edit the Transcription" tasks counted?

"Edit the Transcription" tasks are recorded on the Transcription tab of your Work History Dashboard. As of May 2016, you can Cmd+F or Ctrl+F to search for "approved" on your dashboard to get an accurate total counts of "Edit" and regular Transcription tasks. "Edit" tasks are not currently included on your Stats tab count of Transcription HITs.

Please use your Work History Dashboard to get an accurate count of Edit and Transcription tasks that count toward your weekly bonus.

17.I have issues with a transcription or a review HIT, what can I do?

ANSWER:Email us at [email protected] Provide screenshots or Job IDs when possible(You can find the job ID on the bottom right corner of the media tool when you click on the "Help" tab on the top right corner.)

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18. What does my CrowdSurfWork qualification score mean and why does it go up and down?

ANSWER:Generally the qualification score reflects the volume of work completedand approved but not necessarilythe quality of your work.This score reflects when a HIT is approved (score increases by one point) and when a HIT is rejected (score decreases by one point) Scores will remain the same for HITs that were scored "poor".

In order to continue working CrowdSurf HITs, the score must be above 900. At CrowdSurf we use our own measurement to maintain the quality of our transcripts.It's called the QC score (Quality Control Score).

After you submit a transcript we have other workers that review those transcripts give it a score and make edits if necessary. These workers use a 1- 4 scale.

A score of a 1means fraud, transcript contained several errors like misspellings, punctuation, wrong words, etc that seriously affect the meaning of the transcript.

A score of a 2means poor, transcript contained several errors like misspellings, punctuation, wrong words but it was rather sloppy work than an intentional fraud.

A score of a 3means good, transcript contained some errors like misspellings, punctuation, wrong words that could have beentranscribedcorrectly but it was mostly decent work and the majority ofthetranscriptiscorrect.

A score of 4means perfect, the transcriptperfectly matches the content of the video, the reviewer had to make minimal changes.

On this scale, a HIT is being rejected if it receives a 1 or a 2 (your qualification score decreases on CrowdSurf), or is accepted if it receives a 3 or a 4 (your qualification score increases on CrowdSurf when you score a 4). We work to regulate both sides of this process, so we consistently contact workers with low scores, and we eliminate consistently harsh reviewers from our workforce to protect transcribers.

You can access both your Qualification Score and your QC score on your CrowdSurfWork account. Find your QC score on your Work History Dashboard, and find your Qualification Score on your Qualification tab. Email [email protected] with your Work Market IDif you have any question about this.(Please always include your Work Marketin the email).

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19. How do I score a perfect 4 on every transcription HIT?

ANSWER: Our goal is verbatim transcripts with correct style and formatting. Use our style guidelines, and scoring criteria, and email us with questions. We are always happy to help!

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20.I'm working on CrowdSurf review HITs, what do I do?

ANSWER: Your job as a CrowdSurf reviewer is very important! You help decide the average score of workers when you award their transcript a Fraud, Poor, Good, or Perfect rating. Use the training guide to help you review transcripts.

Our review process is completely automated, so just like any qualified worker can complete the transcription HITs on CrowdSurf, any qualified worker can complete the review HITs on CrowdSurf. Use our scoring criteria to make sure you are accurately and fairly reviewing each transcript.

CrowdSurf will revoke review qualifications for any workers who are fraudulently or unfairly reviewing transcripts.

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21. How do I continue to work on CrowdSurf HITs?

ANSWER:To keep your CrowdSurf qualifications (visible in your Work History dashboard) you must maintain an average score of 3.5 or higher and an approval rating 95% or higher. We will revoke your qualifications if we feel that your quality/accuracy is too low or you are incorrectly reviewing transcripts.In most cases, wesend you a warning first if your score falls below 3.5 or if our data shows that your reviews have been too harsh or too lenient.

However, if we see that there is no improvement or if we see a very low score and a high number of completion we will revoke yourqualificationswithout a warning. If you feel like this action was unjust you can contact [email protected]. Please always include your Work MarketID in the email. and we can look into your case further to determine if we will give you your qualification back or not.

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22. How come there are so many CrowdSurf HITs at times and so few HITs at other times?

ANSWER: CrowdSurf provides an on-demand media captioning service. When our clients have a lot of media, we have lots of HITs available. Likewise, when our clients are creating new media, were slow to upload HITs.

Please understand that we simply have inconsistent volume, sometimes more, sometimes less. We do our best to supply you with a steady stream of HITs, so keep checking CrowdSurf. To stay up to date with volumes feel free to check our website, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

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23. How do I find CrowdSurf HITs about specific subjects or that are high priority?

ANSWER: All of our media content is mixed among all of the different queues in CrowdSurf, so there's really no way to predict where lectures, sports, news, or cartoons will end up. We also cannot predict when we will have urgent HITs. It depends on our customers and it also depends on total volume in the system.

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24. Why does Mturk show a different number of HITs than CrowdSurfWork?

We recommend that you use CrowdSurfWork for the best experience with CrowdSurf HITs. Mturk and CrowdSurfWork pull tasks from the same system. Mturk has a display error that displays HITs that are no longer available, thereby inflating the number of tasks.

CrowdSurfWork will show you available tasks only.

25.How do I find the best paying CrowdSurf HITs?

ANSWER: Previously, you were paid the same reward for a 16 second HIT as you were for a 25 second HIT. Now, we've made the reward amount variable so you can earn more for the tasks that take more time to complete.

The total reward for the HIT is viewable once you preview the HIT - sodon'tbe deterred by the base price! Each task type indicates the highest variable price available in the description. To see details and examples, click here !

[5:39]

Variable pricing

You can see this under your Dashboard. The variable payment for the longer HIT is higher than for the shorter HIT.

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26.I am reviewing a clip with challenging audio and the worker used [INAUDIBLE] OR [UNKNOWN], but I can not understand the speaker?

ANSWER:Please make a judgement call. If you feel like it was easily audible or the transcriber could have easily looked up the word in a search engine, then you should grade a 2=poor. If it was difficult to understand and it took you several times yourself to understand what was being said please grade a 3= good. When in doubt please score a 3=good.

Please also consider that if the content is very specific, e.g. a higher education chemistry class, etc., and you are a chemist, that the word may be easy for you to understand and very difficult for others that have only basic or no knowledge of the field.

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27. What does CrowdSurf do with my transcript?

ANSWER:After you complete one of our HITs, your transcript gets edited by other workers just like you. Our transcripts go through a first pass in CrowdSurfWork with transcribers and reviewers, and then snippets are reassembled to form a complete transcript before going through a second pass for final editing. Depending on the clients needs we will perform special handling, speaker identification, or quality control on your transcript. Once complete, your micro-transcript forms part of educational lectures, cartoons, sports broadcasts, news segments and much more!

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28. I want to learn more about "Freelance Transcribing", who do I talk to?

ANSWER:In addition to the CrowdSurf style guidelines and scoring criteria, there are lots of helpful resources available for you on the web.

Check out the subreddit for CrowdSurf

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29. How do I learn about new CrowdSurf offers and bonuses on Work Market?

ANSWER: We will post daily messages for transcribersdirectly within the HIT itself on the right side of the media player for your convenience! Check for guideline updates and other important info straight from within the HIT you are working on. You can also navigate the tabs on the right of the media player for helpful hints and job-specific notes.

Or you can also Follow us on Twitter: @crowdsurfturk

Like us on Facebook: CrowdSurf Work

Or check out our Website for updates!

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30.I keep receiving empty HITs/I keep receiving HITs with foreign language, what do I do?

ANSWER:Email us immediately at [email protected]. Please always include your Work MarketID in the email. Provide screenshots or Job IDs when possible(You can find the job ID on the bottom right corner of the media tool when you click on the "Help" tab on the top right corner.)

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31. My QC score for Review HITs is low, what's wrong?

I am new to review HITs and I am disappointed that I have a series of ratings of mostly 3s with one 2 and one 4, for an average of 3.

On the review HITs, I can't click on the number to see the feedback like I can on transcription HITs.

I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong. What can I do about to improve these QC scores.

ANSWER: The HIT QC Scores that you see on your Work History Dashboard are the scores that you award those HITs based on the edits made and errors marked. We will contact you if we received a dispute about your HIT scoring. If we receive more than 3-5 valid disputes for your reviews in 1 week, you will be blocked from Reviews until you can complete further training.

32. How do I get promoted?

ANSWER: High volume and great quality scores will get you there!

We consistently invite qualified workers to join CrowdSurfWork platform based on their volume and quality of work. When promotion periods are active, we will look into our high volume workers work history. If you qualify for the next level promotion, our team will contact you with all the details.

Still don't see your question? Suggest a new FAQ in an email to . Please include your Work Market ID in ever message to CrowdSurf Support.

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Section Two- Spelling & Grammar

1. Accepted Spellings

As part of Clean Verbatim transcripts, spelling should adhere to the following rules:

Correct

Incorrect

Example

All right

Alright

All right, are we ready to get started?

Okay / OK button

Kay, ok, Mkay

Okay, when youre ready to get started click OK.

Mm-hm

Mmm hmm, Mmhmm,

Mm-hm, I agree. Mm-hm.

Uh-huh

Uh huh, Uhuh

Uh-huh, I understand you.

etc.

etcetera

Use webinars for classes, presentations, sales, etc.

Um, uh,

ummmm, uhhh, uhm

Um, so, here we uh, uh, have the first slide.

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2. Accepted Slang

Our system will automatically correct the following slang terms, transcribe them as spoken. Example: speaker says "kinda", transcribe as kinda not kind of. If they say "kind of", transcribe as kind of.

If not included in this list, please transcribe the full, correct word as shown in your favorite dictionary. Example: speaker says em, always transcribe as them.

Correct

Incorrect

Yeah

Ya, yea

Cuz

Cause, cus

Yep

Yip, yeap

Gonna

Going To

Kinda

Kind of

Sorta

Sort of

Wanna

Want to

Gotta

Got to

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3. Contractions

Rule

Instruction

Example

We'll vs. Well

1. We'll is a contraction of we will, without the apostrophe, well, has a different meaning.

1a. We'll meet in the morning.

1b. You have done well on this assignment.

Lets vs. Lets

2. Let's is a contraction for let us, without the apostrophe, lets, is a synonym for allows.

2a. Let's go to the beach tomorrow2b. This ski pass lets you ski all season.

I'm vs. Im

3. I'm is a contraction of I am, im andI'mare not correct.

3. I'm looking forward to the weekend.

Shouldve vs. Should of

4. Shouldve is a contraction of should have, should of is not correct.

4. You shouldve been there, it was awesome!

Whos vs. Whose

5. Whos is a contraction of who is, whose is a possessive of who.

I know a woman whose kids study there. >> Whos that?

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4. Homophones

Rule

Instruction

Example

Its

Its

It's is a contraction of the words it is.

Its is a possessive pronoun.

It's cold out today.

The dog is looking for its owner.

Your

Youre

The word your is the possessive form of you

You're is a contraction of the words you are.

Your dog is so playful.

You're welcome.

There

Their

Theyre

Use there when referring to a location or direction.

Use their to indicate possession.

They're is a contraction of the words they are.

He is over there.

I accidentally crashed into their car.

They're going to be happy to hear the good news.

To

Too

Two

To indicates direction or action.

Too means also, very or excessively.

Two is a number.

Please go to the store.

This class is too difficult.

I have two young children.

Then

Than

Then refers to time.

Than is usually used to indicate comparisons.

He was about to leave, but then got distracted.

She is more helpful than you.

Get Higher Rewards On Longer HITs.

Get paid more when you take on more challenging HITs.

Previously, you were paid the same for a 16 second HIT as you were for a 25 second HIT. We've made the individual HITreward amount variable so you can earn more for the tasks that take more time. This is called Variable Pricing.

You will always know exactly how much each HIT is valued. The total reward for the HIT is viewable once you preview the HIT - sodon'tbe deterred by the base price! Each task type indicates the highest variable price available in the description.

*Keep in mind that the Total Reward is the total amount to be earned on the HIT and is not in addition to the base price.

EXAMPLES

In the examples below you will see the differences of tasks that are available in the same base price queue.

Example 1.

Number 1. The BASE price of this queue would be $0.08.

Once you preview a task it will show you:

Number 2. Total Reward paid on the length of the task. In this case it is $0.12.

Number 3. Shows you the total length of the task.

Example 2.

This task is from the same queue as the above example and demonstrates the variable price based on the shorter length.

Find all Crowd Virtualizer related video training on the CrowdSurf YouTube Channel.

CrowdSurf YouTube Channel

Transcription Updates Video Tutorial

New Features are Coming Your Way!

Hello CrowdSurfers,Thank you for all your work in reporting foreign language jobs!We're happy to say we've got a new feature that will make your life easier.The Problem:We asked you to report every foreign language job you came across. These are jobs that have been accidentallysubmitted to our Englishtranscription queues by CrowdSurf customers.We still need your help with [FOREIGN] HITs, but now we've got a BETTER solution!The New Foreign Language Solution:You asked, we listened!We have updated the [FOREIGN] HIT procedure so that you can now submit foreign language jobs as normal.Just use a [FOREIGN] tag where appropriate and submit!We ask you to transcribe 100% foreign language jobs with [FOREIGN] tags. Then, our system willautomatically remove these jobs that have been tagged as foreign from the queue.Here is why this works for you:

You will get paid for your work!

You will no longer waste time sending reports!

The system will use your work to remove annoying HITs!

However, if you continue to see the same foreign material (the system hasn't removed it), please report this [email protected] with the Job ID.Our goal is to make your CrowdSurf experience the best it can be. Please let us know if you have any questions about this NEW foreign language procedure.As always, we are here to proactively listen and work for you!Warm regards,CrowdSurf Support Team

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Section Eight- Computers & Software

Capture the audio content of the HIT in your transcript, use the video to guide your formatting of any buttons, tabs, or other elements of the computer interface.

Rule

Instruction

Example

Shift

Shift

Shift-click to select all of the files in the folder

Alt (And other keyboard combinations)

Alt

If it Sounds like : Hold alt, control, delete.

Transcribe like this: Hold Alt+Ctrl+Delete

Option

Option

Option+N creates the character.

Command

Cmd

Press Cmd+Z (Mac) to undo the last action.

Control

Ctrl

Press Ctrl+Z (Windows) to undo the last action.

Enter or Return

Enter or Return

Then hit Enter.

Arrow up / arrow down

Arrow up or arrow down

Press the arrow up or arrow down keys to increase or decrease the pen diameter.

Comma

Spell out symbol keys like comma

Press Ctrl+comma to increase the brush size.

Dot and File names

When a speaker says dot DO NOT spell it out, transcribe it with a period.

Transcribe the final version of the file name as it appears on screen.

My email address is [email protected].

Spoken: Ive uploaded the image dot P N G file.

Transcribe as: Ive uploaded the image.png file.

Space bar

Space bar

F three

(or any function key)

Transcribe as the letter and numeral

F3

Double-click

double-click

Double-click the border symbol to open it in symbol editing mode.

OK button

Follow the spelling and formatting shown on screen in the computer interface.

e.g. Capitalize words that are shown as capitalized in the computer interface.

Onlyuse this spelling, OK, when referring to the computer command.

I'm gonna go to the Emulate tab, select Mobile Devices option, then click OK.

CamelCase and code formatting

(Writing compound words or phrases so that each word begins with a capital letter.)

Follow on-screen formatting in computer-related HITs. If a line of computer programming code shows specific spacing, capitalization, and punctuation, use the same in your transcript.

I will be using PowerPoint today.

Use the onCreate method.

Software names

All software and company names must be spelled correctly. If you are not sure, look it up to find correct spelling and formatting.

Use the CrowdSurf Glossary for assistance.

Spoken: V M ware was the first company to successfully virtualize the x eighty-six architecture.

Transcribe as: VMware was the first company to successfully virtualize the x86 architecture.

File Path Instructions

When the speaker instructs the user to go to a menu or to press a certain combination of keys, use the following conventions, with a space on either side of the >.

Spoken: Go to File, then Documents, then Open.

Transcribe as: Go to File > Documents > Open

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Section Six- Currency and Time

Rule

Instruction

Example

Dollars and Cents

Do not write dollars use $ sign for a quantifiable amount.

When less than $1 use the format $0.xx.

I owe you $12 for lunch today.

The startup raised $1.2 million in round one.

The profit margin is $0.50 per unit.

Bucks

If the speaker says bucks instead of 'dollars, spell out bucks.

25 bucks

Foreign Currency

When transcribing foreign currency, type out the word for it, rather than the symbol.

I just visited England and I have 100 pounds left over from the trip.

AM and PM

Use AM and PM not a.m. and p.m.

If the time is on the hour, transcribe without :00

1:17 PM or 1 PM

12 oclock

If the speaker says oclock transcribe it as heard.

12 oclock

not 12:00 oclock

Military Time

If spoken as x hundred hours, use the 00:00 format.

17:00 hours

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First Name

Last Name

Mturk ID

CSW ID

Level

Updated Review Tool for "Review, Edit, and score" tasks

We are removing the guesswork out of reviewing and editing CrowdSurf transcripts! The new Review Tool will be much easier in the long run and save you time!

Please read through our training guides and give the new Review Tool a whirl.

Use the new training video and document to learn more!

Review ToolGuidelines

Highlights:

No More Decisions. You no longer have to decide what deserves a Perfect, Good, Poor or Fraud rating.

We Do The Work.Just count the number and types of errors and our tool will take it from there.

Speak Up.Provide comments when you choose Guideline or Other errors.

More Options.Separate checkboxes for ums, uhs, and major missing words.

Save Time.Shortcuts for identifying suspected fraudulent work.

Reminders.Friendly pop-ups ensure that perfect transcripts are submitted every time!

Enjoy the new CrowdSurf Review Tool.

http://www.gartner.com/it-glossary/

MTurk Payments

There 2 types of MTurk payments, base and volume bonus payments.

Base Payments- All regular base payments for work performed in Mechanical Turk are paid after they have been quality controlled. Once the HIT has passed the quality control step a payment is instantly credited to your individual Amazon MTurk account ( Amazon account information ). CrowdSurf base rates vary and aredetermined on both the length and priority of the HIT. Tip:When you log in to your MTurk account search for the High Priority HITs with the higher payouts.

Volume Bonus- Volume bonuses for Transcription Tasks are paidon Monday,for work performed Monday Through Sunday of the previous week (excluding holidays).

*For additional information on AmazonMechanical Turk terms and conditions and payment information.

email us

Welcome to

Level 4!

You Earned It

Level 4 is the CrowdSurfWork private editing platform. Instead of doing HITs in MTurk, you will be doing per media minute Full Text Review Tasks.

Level 4 entails some importantchanges from doing MTurk HITs. We have included common questions and answers about Level 4 below.

Let us know if you have additional questions, we are here to help.We look forward to working with you!

Job: Full Text Editor

Qualifications:

Transcription Qualification in Mechanical Turk

Transcription Review Qualification in Mechanical Turk

Full Text Review Qualification in CrowdSurfWork

Full Text Review General Media Qualification in CrowdSurfWork (High volume demand only)

Level 4! 1. What is Level 4? 2. How much do I make in Level 4? 3. Your Success in Level 4 4. Tracking Your Work 5. Payment Method 6. Logging In to CrowdSurfWork 7. Next Steps! 8. Log In FAQ's

1. What is Level 4?

Level 4 CrowdSurfers are responsible for editing and identifying any timing errors in Full Length Transcripts. This is the first time anyone has seen the Full Length Transcript after all of its MTurk HITs come together, and we need you to make sure it is100% PERFECT.Click here to see Full Text Review Guidelines. See theFAQ's for Log In information here. 2. How much do I make in Level 4? Level 4 Full Text Review tasks are worth $0.17per media minute for editing and flagging incorrect timing.These tasks have a higher effective pay rate than our Transcription HITs and our Review HITs in MTurk.

3. Your Success in Level 4

To stay inLevel4we need you to keep delivering high quality work. This means aQC Score between 3.5 and 3.69and anApproval Rating of 90%. If your score falls below these qualitylevelswe will provide feedback on your mistakes. Our goal is to help you be as successful as possible with CrowdSurfWork.

4. Tracking Your Work

Your CrowdSurfWork ID is *|MMERGE3|*. Keepthis ID to track your performance on the Daily Worker Data Spreadsheet. The first 2 tabs are relevant to Level 4. You can see media minutes worked, your average QC score, Approval Rate, and number of rejected Full Text Review tasks. You'll receive emails letting you know which ones you qualify for.These datais provideddailyand in a weekly summary. More about thespreadsheet:

Weekly data shows work from Monday12:00am - Sunday 11:59pm PST

Daily data shows work from 12:00am - 11:59pm PST.

TheSpreadsheet is updated Monday-Friday for the previous day. Work done from Friday-Sunday will be updated on Monday.

To keep thedataanonymous, everyone has a CrowdSurfWork ID.

Tip: Use CTRL+F to search the spreadsheet for yourworkerID.

5. Payment Method

You will be paidper media minute, not per task on CrowdSurfWork. This means that a 10 minute task is worth $1.70. The longer the task, the more you earn!Please refer to the Daily Worker Spreadsheet for your earnings information. All payments will be made to your MTurk account on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays for work completed by 11:59pm PST the previous night. CrowdSurfWork Bonusesare in addition to the $0.17per mm base rate. Bonus announcements are posted every week on the CrowdSurf Blog.

6. Logging In to CrowdSurfWork

Pleaselogin HERE with the following credentials: Username: Firstname.Lastname Password: LastnameFirstname Example-Username:John.Doe Password: DoeJohn

Once you've logged in for the first time:

Pleasechangeyourpasswordright away

Read the Getting Started Guide to help you navigate the new platform.

Watch the two Full text Review training videos: Video1 Video 2

Add the CrowdSurfWork login page to your browser's bookmarks

7. Next Steps!

When you submit at least 50 FTR tasks with a QC Score between 3.7 and 3.8 you will become eligible for Level 5 work. Level 5 CrowdSurfers have access to Quality Control Tasks ($0.17/mm), Timing Tasks ($0.18/mm, Special Handling Tasks ($0.20) and Speaker ID Tasks ($0.15). With every CrowdSurf Promotion you unlock access to new and better work! See theFAQ's for Log In information here.

CrowdSurfWork Platform

Question 1.What is the new CrowdSurfWork Platform? A. CrowdSurfWork is the new Crowd Virtualizer platform. All of your Full Text Review, QC, QC Reject tasks are now available on CrowdSurfWork! Question 2. Where do I login? A. Bookmark this link! https://work.crowdsurfwork.com/accounts/login/ Question 3.How do I login? A. Just use your first and last name! If your name is John Doe, your login credentials are:

Username: John.Doe

Password: DoeJohn

Question 4.Why doesn't my dashboard work? A. Your Work History Dashboard is under construction! Find your daily and weekly stats on the Freelance Feedback Sheet ! Question 5.Why did I get a reject? A. Your FTR tasks are quality controlled just like your HITs in Mturk. If you want quality feedback on your rejected tasks, justand we'll go over it with you!

Question 6. Why did I lose my task?A. To better meet deadlines we haveimplemented anadditional activity monitor separate from the 14 hour timer on the task. As long as you stay logged in and connected to the CrowdSurfWork platform with a healthy Internet connection, you should not lose the task.To find an active task, click the "Active" button in the top right, preview and try to accept the task that is served up, click "Continue" to resume work on your active task.

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Section Nine- Internet & Contact Info

Rule

Instruction

Example

Spelling a Name, Address, Word, etc.

If a speaker spells out a last name or street or something, indicate the recitation of letters with hyphens in between each letter.

My name is Christina, C-H-R-I-S-T-I-N-A.

Internet

Internet must always be capitalized.

You must have a stable Internet connection to work on Mturk.

URLs

Transcribe the final web address even if the speaker has completely spelled it out.

Spoken: You can find us at W S J dot com.

Transcribe as: You can find us at WSJ.com

Emails

Transcribe the final email address even if the speaker has completely spelled it out.

Spoken: My email is J O H N dot D O E at g mail dot com.

Transcribe as: My email is [email protected].

Telephone Number

Transcribe the final telephone number in digits and dashes form.

My cell number is (123)-444-5555.

IP Addresses

Transcribe the final IP address in digits and periods form.

98.182.30.194

Hashtags

If used as a word in a sentence, spell out the word hashtag.

If used in the format #blablabla use the pound sign, #

Contact me at the hashtag shown below.

Spoken: Whats your opinion? Let us know at hashtag CrowdSurf.

Transcribe as: Whats your opinion? Let us know at #CrowdSurf.

Twitter handles

Use the at sign, @, when someone references their twitter handle

Find me on Twitter @AshleyEsqueda.

Big Improvements to CrowdSurf HITs in MTurk and CrowdSurfWork!

In our efforts to provide greater efficiency, higher rewards and overall transparency we have made significant improvements to our CrowdSurf Transcription HITs.

HIGHLIGHTS

1. Faster Load Times

Our new platform will reduce load times for the media by up to 50%!

You will notice a significant improvement in speed to completing HITs allowing you to continue on to your next HIT.

Less waiting around equals more money in your pocket!

2.Higher Rewards for Longer HITs

This is the most exciting enhancement of all. Previously, you were paid the same reward for a 16 second HIT as you were for a 25 second HIT.

Now, we've made the reward amount variable so you can earn more for the tasks that take more time to complete.

The total reward for the HIT is viewable once you preview the HIT - sodon'tbe deterred by the base price! Each task type indicates the highest variable price available in the description.

To see details and examples, click here !

3. Dashboard

In our efforts to help you betterkeep track of the HITsyou'veworked and your total earnings weve created a payment and review history Dashboard. The New Dashboard is accessible on the Stats tab onceyou'veaccepted a HIT in MTurk.

Payment and Review History Link - this link will give you a more detailed look at your work history. It includes an individualized view of the tasks you worked and specific information for each individual task including the score received.

To see details and examples, click here !

4. Quality Feedback

Now when you click on your QC score, you will receive detailed feedback on the HIT. This will help you review your score and any errors that were corrected.

To see details and examples, click here !

RECAP

When you log into MTurk, CrowdSurf HITs look the same as before. The improvements you will notice are:

HITs will load 50% faster.

Base and Actual reward pricing now outlined at the top of the HIT.

Reporting dashboard with earnings

Access to reviewed HITs

All playback functionality will remain unchanged. You will still be able to skip, accept or auto-accept HITs. The guidelines, bonus announcements, help and statistics informational box will all remain visible within the player.

See the changes in action in this Mturk Video Tutorial !

IN THE WORKS

There is more to come.... Here is a glimpse of what we are working on!

A Streamlined Work Experience

Updated work queues will boost individual efficiency, and allow us to offer higher volumes of work.

Engage Worker Preferences

Smart queues will learn you preferences and serve you your favorite HITs.

Multifaceted Variable Pricing

Your payment will be based on a variety of factors including quality, accuracy, and duration.

As always if you have further questions for us, please do not hesitate to email us. We look forward to a continued partnership with you.

CrowdSurf Support Team

Detailed Quality Feedback

When you click on your QC score on your Work History Dashboard, you can now viewdetailed feedback on the HIT. This will help you review your score and any errors that were corrected.

CrowdSurf Support Team

As always, when you have a question about a HIT or a review please include your Worker ID in every message to the . Thank you!

Click here for the Getting Started Guide!

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Speaker ID Training

Basics

Pop-Up Box

Will contain special instructions regarding the job. These may include information such as the names of the speakers in the job. You will need to read through these carefully and click I Accept These Guidelines button before accepting the job

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Notes

ALWAYS review the job's Notes section, where you may find special instructions on how to identify speakers throughout the media.

If names are not provided, we expect you to look out for speaker names by listening to the media carefully.You may also use the Internet in instances where the speakers may be widely known and identifiable.

You will then review the entire video, line by line, and verify that the person speaking matches the name/ID that is assigned to that line.Do not rely on what is pre-populated in the transcript.

These jobs will either show up with just Speaker 1 throughout, although if there are multiple speakers it may alternate between Speaker 1 and Speaker 2 though there may be more than 2 speakers.

If there is only one speaker throughout the video please ID it correctly at the beginning of the job and make sure you see it throughout the transcript.

Speaker Tab

When you begin reviewing the job, you may come across the names of the speakers in the transcript. If you click on the Speaker tab (see figure below), you will have the option of entering the names and or gender of the speakers in the audio/media to identify them properly in the job. If no names are used, you can identify by selecting a speaker number and a gender. For example: Female Speaker 1, Male Speaker 1, etc.

*Note: some jobs may provide the names of the speakers. Please make sure you check the custom guidelines or notes section of the job for these.

Once you have added the Speaker IDs or Names you will be able to view them on the drop down box in the center pane. (see figure below)

*Please note that you can make speaker changes to the transcript in different places within this tool and that every sentence has the speaker identified, even if the same speaker is speaking consecutive sentences.

Center Pane

If you need to make speaker changes to a specific sentence - Select the sentence then click and select the correct speaker.

You can also see speaker alternate here while playing and reviewing transcript.

*Please note that if the sentence you selected was already tagged with a different speaker the changes you make will be auto populated to all snippets following your change until the next speaker tag/change in the transcript.

Hint: If you need to make a change to only one particular sentence, then you need to tag the sentence below it with a speaker icon before you make the change.

Navigation Pane

Speaker changes can also be done using the Speaker Icon at the right hand side of every sentence in the Navigation Pane (see figure below).

Select sentence and click on the Speaker icon to make the changes in speaker. If there are multiple speakers, you will need to select the speaker in the center pane before making the changes.

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Next Speaker Icon

Youwon'thave to scroll to find the speaker changes anymore! Now you can simply click on the Next Speaker Icon and this allows you to easily jump to the next speaker tagged in the transcript.

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Show All Button

This is located under the Speaker Tab in the Help Pane. The Show All Button allows you to select any of the Speakers from the Job and listen to all of their snippets. This is an effective way of spot checking your work and making sure that you have identified the correct speaker for those snippets. (see figure below)

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Using the Tool

1. Listen to the media and select the appropriate speaker from the drop down menu in the Center Pane (or add them on the Speakers panel to the right under the Speaker Tab.

Once you make a speaker change in the transcript, remember that the selection made will populate the snippets/sentences below (up to the next speaker change).

When you change the default speaker name to a proper name, it will populate all of the appropriate labels throughout the transcript.

2. Click the Next Speaker Change button to move to the next speaker, select the name from the drop down menu.

3. If a speaker change is incorrectly flagged or needs to be changed, you can do so using the Speaker Change button in the center pane or by clicking the red speaker icon on the Navigation Pane.

Note that when the icon is red it indicates a change in speaker. Black icon means the same speaker.

When a change in speaker is added or removed it will modify all the speaker labels below it.

4. Filter by speaker under the Speaker Tab using the Show All button to check your work.

These are the most up to date Speaker ID instructions. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through the help center.

The Timing Review training video is for level 5 and higher.

Begin Timing Review Video

QC Training pertains to Level 5 and above.

Begin QC Training

A video is a great way to learn about the Review Tool. It is also helpful to have this open while you are still new to CrowdSurf. The new Review Tool will be much easier in the long run and save you time!

Begin Review Tool Training

You can also read through our training document below.

Review Tool Training Guide (Document)

Highlights:

No More Decisions. You no longer have to decide what deserves a Perfect, Good, Poor or Fraud rating.

We Do The Work.Just count the number and types of errors and our tool will take it from there.

Speak Up.Provide comments when you choose Guideline or Other errors.

More Options.Separate checkboxes for ums, uhs, and major missing words.

Save Time.Shortcuts for identifying suspected fraudulent work.

Reminders.Friendly pop-ups ensure that perfect transcripts are submitted every time!

Enjoy the new CrowdSurf Review Tool.

Attached are QC Scoring Examples. The Scoring Examples provide examples of the transcripts in all classes, (Fraud, Poor, Good, Perfect). Reviewing examples can really make scoring easier and it may be helpful to keep this document open while you are actively scoring transcripts.

Scoring Matrix Document

Click here for PDF Guide

Click here for Clean Verbatim Guidelines

Mechanical Turk

MTurk CrowdSurf FAQ*Under Construction*

Where can I find my MTurk ID?

Where can I find the Job ID?

When can I expect to be paid?

What are your standard base payments?

What are your bonus rates?

I think I was paid too much/too little, what should I do?

Can I retake my CrowdSurf qualification test?

I have issues with a transcript or review HIT, what can I do?

What does my MTurk qualification score mean and why does it go up and down?

How do I score a perfect 4 on every transcription HIT?

I'm working on CrowdSurf review Hits, what do I do?

How do I continue to work on CrowdSurf HITs?

How come there so many CrowdSurf HITs at times and then so few HITs at other times?

How do I find Crowdsurf HITs about specific subjects or that are high priority?

How do I find the best paying CrowdSurf HITs?

I am reviewing a clip with challenging audio and the worker used [INAUDIBLE] OR [UNKNOWN], but I can not understand the speaker?

What does CrowdSurf do with my transcript?

I want to learn more about "Turking", who do I talk to?

How do I learn about new CrowdSurf offers and bonuses n MTurk?

I keep receiving empty HITs/I keep receiving HITs with foreign language, what do I do?

My HIT Froze, what do I do?

My QC score for Review HITs is low, what's wrong?

1. Where can I find my MTurk ID?

ANSWER: Itson your dashboard on Mechanical Turk. Look for it under the Your Account Tab athttps://www.mturk.com/mturk/dashboard.

[email protected]

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2. Where can I find the Job ID?

ANSWER: The Job ID is available at the bottom of the Help Tab on every HIT. Please included the Job ID and your worker ID in messages to CrowdSurf Support.

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3. When can I expect to be paid?

ANSWER: There both regular base payments as well as volume base payments. All payments are made through Amazon to your Amazon Payments Account.

All regular base payments for work performed in Mechanical Turk are paid after the HIT has been quality controlled. Each HITs base rate is visible on the right side of the HIT queue. Once the HIT has passed the quality control step a payment is instantly credited to your individual MTurk account.

Volume bonuses for Transcription Tasks are paidon Mondays (excluding holidays)depending on the end date of the bonus (note that bonus extensions may result in payments delayed until the close of the bonus period):

Monday payment reflects earnings from the previous Monday 12:00am through 11:59pm SundayPST

All Volume Bonuses are published on the CrowdSurf Blog.

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4. What are your standard base payments?

ANSWER:Base rates for Mechanical Turk HITs are subject to change. Base rates are determined on both the length and priority of the HIT. When you log in to your MTurk account search for "CrowdSurf Transcription" to find transcription HITs. Longer HITs will earn you more.

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4. What are your bonus rates?

ANSWER: *Bonuses change often. Updated Transcription bonus information can be found on our website.

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6. I think I was paid too much/too little, what should I do?

ANSWER:Oops! Mistakes happen and if you feel like you have been paid incorrectly please contact us at [email protected]. Please always include your MTurk ID in the email.

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7. Can I retake my CrowdSurf qualification test?

ANSWER:No, but you can email us at [email protected] with your MTurk ID and we can set you up with new test material or assign qualifications to you. Please always include your MTurk ID in the email.

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8.I have issues with a transcription or a review HIT, what can I do? ANSWER:Email us at [email protected] Provide screenshots or Job IDs when possible(You can find the job ID on the bottom right corner of the media tool when you click on the "Help" tab on the top right corner.)

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9. What does my MTurk qualification score mean and why does it go up and down?

ANSWER:Generally the qualification score reflects the volume of work completedand approved but not necessarilythe quality of your work.This score reflects when a HIT is approved (score increases by one point) and when a HIT is rejected (score decreases by one point) Scores will remain the same for HITs that were scored "poor".

In order to continue working CrowdSurf HITs, the score must be above 900. At CrowdSurf we use or own measurement to maintain the quality of our transcripts.It's called the QC score (Quality Control Score).

After you submit a transcript we have other workers that review those transcripts give it a score and make edits if necessary. These workers use a 1- 4 scale.

A score of a 1means fraud, transcript contained several errors like misspellings, punctuation, wrong words, etc that seriously affect the meaning of the transcript.

A score of a 2means poor, transcript contained several errors like misspellings, punctuation, wrong words but it was rather sloppy work than an intentional fraud.

A score of a 3means good, transcript contained some errors like misspellings, punctuation, wrong words that could have beentranscribedcorrectly but it was mostly decent work and the majority ofthetranscriptiscorrect.

A score of 4means perfect, the transcriptperfectly matches the content of the video, the reviewer had to make minimal changes.

On this scale, a HIT is being rejected if it receives a 1 or a 2 (your qualification score decreases on Mechanical Turk), or is accepted if it receives a 3 or a 4 (your qualification score increases on Mechanical Turk when you score a 4). We work to regulate both sides of this process, so we consistently contact workers with low scores, and we eliminate consistently harsh reviewers from our workforce to protect transcribers.

Although you have unrestricted access to view your qualification score whenever you want, we encourage you to email [email protected] with your MT IDand request information about youraverage QC score.(Please always include your MT ID in the email).We ask that you limit these requests to once a week, and please be patient with us, it may take up to a week for us to respond with a quality report.

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10. How do I score a perfect 4 on every transcription HIT?

ANSWER: Our goal is verbatim transcripts with correct style and formatting. Use our style guidelines, and scoring criteria, and email us with questions. We are always happy to help!

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11.I'mworking on CrowdSurf review HITs, what do I do?

ANSWER: Your job as a CrowdSurf reviewer on MT is very important! You help decide the average score of workers when you award their transcript a Fraud, Poor, Good, or Perfect rating. Use the training guide to help you review transcripts.

Our review process is completely automated, so just like any qualified worker can complete the transcription HITs on MT, any qualified worker can complete the review HITs on MT. Use our scoring criteria to make sure you are accurately and fairly reviewing each transcript.

CrowdSurf will revoke review qualifications for any workers who are fraudulently or unfairly reviewing transcripts.

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12. How do I continue to work on CrowdSurf HITs?

ANSWER:To keep your CrowdSurf qualifications on MT you must maintain an average score of 3.5 or higher and an approval rating 95% or higher. We will revoke your qualifications if we feel that your quality/accuracy is too low or you are incorrectly reviewing transcripts.In most cases, wesend you a warning first if your score falls below 3.5 or if our data shows that your reviews have been too harsh or too lenient.

However, if we see that there is no improvement or if we see a very low score and a high number of completion we will revoke yourqualificationswithout a warning. If you feel like this action was unjust you can contact [email protected]. Please always include your MT ID in the email. and we can look into your case further to determine if we will give you your qualification back or not.

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13. How come there are so many CrowdSurf HITs at times and so few HITs at other times?

ANSWER: CrowdSurf provides an on-demand media captioning service. When our clients have a lot of media, we have lots of HITs available. Likewise, when our clients are creating new media, were slow to upload HITs.

Please understand that CrowdSurf is not leaving MTurk when volume is low. We simply have inconsistent volume, sometimes more, sometimes less. We do our best to supply you with a steady stream of HITs, so keep checking MT urk. To stay up to date with volumes feel free to check our website, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

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14. How do I find CrowdSurf HITs about specific subjects or that are high priority?

ANSWER: All of our media content is mixed among all of the different queues in MTurk, so there's really no way to predict where lectures, sports, news, or cartoons will end up. We also cannot predict when we will have urgent HITs. It depends on our customers and it also depends on total volume in the system. But you can sort HITs by reward amount in MTurk to find the highest paying CrowdSurf HITs.

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15. How do I find the best paying CrowdSurf HITs?

ANSWER: Search CrowdSurf Urgent in the search bar within MT. Make even more money by avoiding rejections: skip or return HITs that you feel are too difficult. In general we pay higher for higher priority, our levels starting from lowest paid to highest paid are :

Low Priority

Medium Priority

High Priority

Urgent Priority

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16.I am reviewing a clip with challenging audio and the worker used [INAUDIBLE] OR [UNKNOWN], but I can not understand the speaker?

ANSWER:Please make a judgement call. If you feel like it was easily audible or the transcriber could have easily looked up the word in a search engine, then you should grade a 2=poor. If it was difficult to understand and it took you several times yourself to understand what was being said please grade a 3= good. When in doubt please score a 3=good.

Please also consider that if the content is very specific, e.g. a higher education chemistry class, etc., and you are a chemist, that the word may be easy for you to understand and very difficult for others that have only basic or no knowledge of the field.

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17. What does CrowdSurf do with my transcript?

ANSWER:After you complete one of our HITs, your transcript gets edited by other workers just like you. Our transcripts go through a first pass in MT with transcribers and reviewers, and then snippets are reassembled to form a complete transcript before going through a second pass for final editing. Depending on the clients needs we will perform special handling, speaker identification, or quality control on your transcript. Once complete, your micro-transcript forms part of educational lectures, cartoons, sports broadcasts, news segments and much more!

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18. I want to learn more about "Freelance Transcribing", who do I talk to?

ANSWER:In addition to the CrowdSurf style guidelines and scoring criteria, there are lots of helpful resources available for you on the web.

Check out the CrowdSurf Subreddit to connect with experienced CrowdSurfers and get help from the CrowdSurf community.

Check out the TurkerNation forum. See what other turkers have to say about CrowdSurf, making money, and being a successful freelance transcriber in Mturk.

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19. How do I learn about new CrowdSurf offers and bonuses n MTurk?

ANSWER: We will post daily messages for turkers directly within the HIT itself on the right side of the media player for your convenience! Check for guideline updates and other important info straight from within the HIT you are working on. You can also navigate the tabs on the right of the media player for helpful hints and job-specific notes.

Or you can also Follow us on Twitter: @crowdsurfturk

Like us on Facebook: CrowdSurf Work

Or check out our Website for updates!

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20.I keep receiving empty HITs/I keep receiving HITs with foreign language, what do I do?

ANSWER:Email us immediately at [email protected]. Please always include your MTurk ID in the email. Provide screenshots or Job IDs when possible(You can find the job ID on the bottom right corner of the media tool when you click on the "Help" tab on the top right corner.)

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21. My HIT froze, what do I do?

ANSWER: When the player freezes, copy what you have transcribed to that point and then click on "HITs Assigned to Me" to retrieve the hit. Paste the text back into the text box and continue on from there. Just make sure to copy anything that has already been transcribed because if not, it will be lost when you reopen the HIT through the Assigned HITs area.

22. My QC score for Review HITs is low, what's wrong?

I am new to review HITs and I am disappointed that I have a series of ratings of mostly 3s with one 2 and one 4, for an average of 3.

On the review HITs, I can't click on the number to see the feedback like I can on transcription HITs.

I can't improve if I don't know what I'm doing wrong. What can I do about to improve these QC scores.

ANSWER: The HIT QC Scores that you see on your Work History Dashboard are the scores that you award those HITs based on the edits made and errors marked. We will contact you if we received a dispute about your HIT scoring. If we receive more than 3-5 valid disputes for your reviews in 1 week, you will be blocked from Reviews until you can complete further training.

Still don't see your question? Suggest a new FAQ in an email to .

Crowd Virtualizer

Crowd Virtualizer FAQ

When can I expect to be paid?

How do I sign up for Crowd Virtualizer (CV)?

I have made an account in Crowd Virtualizer, now what?

Why are the payment and reject numbers are different in CV then on the daily CrowdSurf worker spreadsheet?

How do I get feedback for work completed on Crowd Virtualizer ?

What do levels in Crowd Virtualizer mean?

What are the Special Group and Special Handling qualifications and how do I receive them?

How long does it take to get promoted to a higher level?

Why was I downgraded and were some of my qualifications revoked?

I don't want to work on that type of task again, I'm afraid of getting my qualifications revoked?

What do qualification values mean?

How do I get updates on CrowdSurf work in Crowd Virtualizer?

1. When can I expect to be paid?

ANSWER: All regular base payments and bonuses for work performed in Crowd Visualizer are paid every Monday, Wednesday and Friday payments are credited to you Mechanical Turk - Amazon Payments account.

Monday payment reflects earnings from Friday through Midnight Sunday PST

Wednesday payment reflects earnings from Monday through Midnight Tuesday PST

Friday payment reflects earnings from Wednesday through Thursday Midnight PST

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2. How do I sign up for Crowd Virtualizer?

ANSWER: We invite our top workers from Mechanical Turk to work in Crowd Virtualizer. While our criteria for promoting workers can change, generally we require between 200-300 or more approved Transcription and Review HITs on MT with an average score of 3.7 or greater.

Crowd Virtualizer does not mean you leave MT, it just means you get access to more work in addition to HITs on MT. We use Crowd Virtualizer to offer other task types like Full Text Review or Quality Control Tasks.

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3. I have made an account in Crowd Virtualizer, now what?

ANSWER: CrowdSurf will set up your account and send you an introductory email to explain everything! Only CrowdSurf administrators can grant qualifications and add you to our teams, so making your own Crowd Virtualizer (CV) account doesnt allow you to access any new CrowdSurf tasks.

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4. Why are the payment and reject numbers in Crowd Virtualizer different then on the daily CrowdSurf worker spreadsheet?

ANSWER: Please only rely on the number on our Daily Worker Feedback Spreadsheet. Our payment system is not connected to the Crowd Virtualizer and we keep track of your rejects and of your payments in our separate system.

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5. How do I get feedback for work completed on Crowd Virtualizer?

ANSWER: Oops! You can check out Daily Worker Feedback Spreadsheet. We are constantly adding tabs to this. However our ultimate goal is to create a worker portal where you will be able to get feedback on each task that got rejected, work on training material and see near real time data on your payments and your quality scores. Please bear with us until we have that portal completed.

In the meantime please use your CV ID and CMD+F to find your data on the spreadsheets. The spreadsheet has the most up to date data on your performance and it will be used to make payments. Email us at [email protected] with your CV ID for more specific questions.

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6. What do levels in Crowd Virtualizer mean?

ANSWER: Each different level of CrowdSurf workers completes a different step in our transcribing process. You can see an explanation of CrowdSurf levels here.

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7. What are the Special Group and Special Handling qualifications and how do I receive them?

ANSWER: We do have multiple Special Handling Queues which can encompass a wide variety of tasks. The tasks and queues can change, but two queues we maintain regularly are:

CRITICAL QUEUE - This queue is designed for quick turnaround media, and needs to be completed quickly and accurately! Use these links for information on Critical Guidelines, Scoring Criteria, and Payment Information

SPEAKER ID QUEUES - This queue is used for adding speaker ID labels to specific jobs with lots of dialogue. Use these links to access Speaker ID Guidelines I, Speaker ID Guidelines II, Speaker ID Guidelines III and payment information

Here the requirements to become part of these Special Handling groups: 1. CRITICAL QUEUE

At least Level 5 Worker

Proven record of high performance in timing as well as in Full Text Review

Proven record of high work speeds (Desired speed is between 1.8 and 4x the media length)

Ability to comply 100% with the Critical Guidelines

This includes our regular guidelines but especially the following things:

- Look up names of cities/countries/special terms/reporters/ leaders of the world

- Re-time (not FLAG!) off timing

- Insert Music or Sound tokens when needed

- Removes stutters, and repetitive words (uh and um can be neglected)

NOTE: If any of the above criteria is disregarded by the worker, we will send feedback. If worker repeatedly does not follow the guidelines, we will revoke qualifications for this queue or others. 2. SPEAKER ID 2 QUEUE

At least Level 4 Worker

Proven record of high performance in Full Text Review

Ability to comply 100% with the Special Guidelines

This includes our regular guidelines but especially the following things:

- Insert the correct Speaker ID or names if speakers are introduced

- Don't miss Speaker IDs or insert too many

- OPTIONAL: For those that wish to go above and beyond, the worker fixes mistakes that s/he comes across while working on inserting the Speaker IDs (unless specifically instructed not to make additional edits)

NOTE: If any of the above criteria is being disregarded by the worker we will send feedback. If it keeps happening repeatedly we reserve the right to revoke qualifications for this queue or others

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8. How long does it take to get promoted to a higher level?

ANSWER: It depends on your performance as well as on our immediate need to get more workers for the top tasks. If you work a lot of tasks with consistent high quality we are likely to upgrade you quickly as long as we have the need for it. Please wait for an invitation, we will proactively contact you regarding higher level work.

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9. Why was I downgraded and were some of my qualifications revoked?

ANSWER: If you believe you were downgraded in error please email [email protected] and provide your CV ID and your MT ID. We usually do not revoke qualifications without providing a warning prior to the removal of the qualifications.

If you have not received any warnings please email us. If you have received warnings and you believe your quality has improved but we still revoked the qualification please email us and we can provide specific examples and evaluate your case.

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10. I don't want to work on that task type again, I'm afraid of getting my qualifications revoked?

ANSWER: Please do not be afraid to get your qualifications revoked for no reason. Before we revoke qualifications completely there has to be plenty of evidence of sloppy work. We work hard to protect our workers and uphold our quality standards.

Please be proactive and email us if you had any difficulties with any given task and you're afraid of not being able to comply with the above requirements. We believe everybody deserves a second chance and more often than not we even give a third chance.

We also evaluate our workers on a case by case basis. This means, for example, if you have delivered high volume with consistently high quality for a long time and then have some rejects due to technical issues we will investigate and take these factors into consideration. In the end, we understand that no one can ever be 100% perfect, not even us!

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11. What do qualification values mean?

ANSWER: The values don't really matter, the important thing to know is:

A qualification with the value 0 means you do not have the qualification and can't work that specific queue. (Even if it looks like weve added a qualification, if the score is 0, you will not be able to work those tasks)

A qualification with the value 1 or higher means you do have the qualification.

Sometimes you may receive email notifications in Crowd Virtualizer telling you that certain qualifications have been assigned to you. This is normal. Once in a while we use certain queues to do some internal test jobs or occasionally we will reset qualifications for internal purposes.

As long as you can keep working on the tasks that you are qualified for according to your level don't worry. If there has been a qualification assigned to you with the value 1 or higher and you have not received any information regarding how to work that queue please email us.

If we revoked a qualification from you by either taking it away completely or by assigning the value 0 to your qualification without prior warning, preventing access to your regular work queues, where you have performed work before, please email us as well.

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12. How do I get updates about new CrowdSurf work in Crowd Virtualizer?

ANSWER: We communicate with our Crowd Virtualizer workers through level specific lists. Please be sure that you are subscribed to these CrowdSurf newsletters so that you can get the most up to date news and bonus offers from CrowdSurf. To stay up to date with volumes feel free to check our website, follow us on Twitter or like us on Facebook.

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Don't see your question? Feel free to email us at support@crowdsurfwork so that we can add your FAQ to the list.

Call Recording can be a challenge. These guidelines will make it transcribing recorded media easier for you.

Try your best transcribing Call Recording media and if something is impossible to transcribe don't be afraid to use the [INAUDIBLE] tag.

Speaker ID, Call Recording Guidelines

The Timing Error Flag Feature is critical to a correct transcript. This training video is suitable for Level 5 and above.

Begin Timing Error Flag Feature