More questions about extent of measurement unit within switch indicators

[Susan Baker]

Hello Kyle!

Thank you for clarifying about the units of measurement in transcribing in Nemeth within UEB.

Could you please look on the attached sheet.  I actually have two questions and really appreciate your expertise, patience, and time.

1. ) Problem 21 b. Would you think it should be "0.1 mile" within the switch indicators or "0.1 mile per hour" within the switch indicators?
2. )   Problem 22 a. I was looking at the 56.23 seconds, which I understand I would put those within the switch indicators, but this is actually part of a larger unit, 41 minutes 56.23 seconds.  Would you recommend just putting  the "56.23 (because of the decimal point) seconds"  in the switch indicators, or would you do the entire expression of 41 minutes 56.23 seconds?

Thank you again!

Susan

 

[kdejute]

Susan,

Excellent questions. Thank you for bringing these up.

In the first example you describe, only "0.1 mile" should be in Nemeth switch indicators; "per" and "hour" are just words and so should be transcribed in UEB. We would treat "0.5 hour per day" the same way--with only "0.5 hour" within Nemeth switch indicators.

In the second example you describe, really only "56.23 seconds" must be in Nemeth mode. No part of "41 minutes" is technical/mathematical material. Since we do not want to overextend the Nemeth mode, I would say it needs to be restricted to the decimal and its related unit of measure.

The forum did not allow the scan of your example page to upload, because the file was too large, so my response is based only on the, quite well written, text of your question.

Thank you again for laying these examples on the table; you are really helping us interpret and clarify the Guidance.

Cheers!

--Kyle

[kdejute]

I must change part of my response. Some welcome insight from another transcriber leads to the following conclusion:

Although 41 minutes is not in itself technical material, the BANA committee has discussed this and unanimously agrees that the whole expression (41 minutes 56.23 seconds) would be enclosed in switch indicators as opposed to parts of a single expression being transcribed in two different codes. This really is a single expression, not two separate ones.

Thank you for your patience and understanding as we ALL continue to learn about the relationship between UEB and Nemeth Code!

--Kyle

[Lynda]

I'm not sure I understand this. Are units of time not considered mathematical units of measurement? What exactly are we defining as a mathematical or technical unit?

[kdejute]

Lynda,

In this specific instance, we are saying that "41 minutes 56.23 seconds" is one value and so must be dealt with as a whole. So, because "56.23" must be in Nemeth, the rest of this value must also be in Nemeth.

In other words, "72 minutes" would not need to be in Nemeth. Similarly, "72 minutes 12 seconds" would not have to be in Nemeth.
On the other hand, "43.5 minutes" would have to be in Nemeth. And "43.5 minutes 12 seconds" would have to be altogether in Nemeth.

Does that help to make the situation more clear?

–Kyle

[Lynda]

I consider "minutes" to be a standard unit of measurement for time and would have therefore transcribed "72 minutes" as Nemeth. You are saying that this is not correct and I can accept that. So I am asking for clarification on what BANA defines as "technical material". Are we limited to units of distance, volume, and/or weight? Is there a list of these units available anywhere?

[kdejute]

Ah, I see your question.

"72 minutes" should not be transcribed in Nemeth switch indicators. Nor should "72 hours" "72 seconds" or "72 pounds", because the simple numeral "72" falls under the exception described in 3.a under Basic Guidance on When to Switch in the Guidance.

It is not the unit that determines whether a value is technical/mathematical. We determine whether a value is technical/mathematical and Nemeth Code switch indicators are necessary based on what comes before the unit of measure. A decimal, for example, does necessitate Nemeth switch indicators.

[Lynda]

Thank you, I did not interpret "Additional Guidance" the right way and thought they were talking about the number attached to the units and not the units attached to the number.

• This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by Lynda.
• This reply was modified 7 years, 6 months ago by Lynda.

[Susan Baker]

Thank you for the updated answer, and that does make sense.

Susan

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