How to decipher Cyrillic handwriting
Example: when you're looking at the Russian given names of wives and daughters, you should have a pretty good idea that a woman whose name begins with a D is probably a Dvojra. A woman whose name begins with an E is probably an Ester, an Eidl or an Etil, and a woman whose name begins with an F could very well be a Fejga or a Freida.
The detail-oriented way is probably the best way, but, if you're a big-picture kind of person, work with what you've got.
Even if you want to put transliterations on the Web, a Web page that gives 200 error-ridden, moderately inconsistent transliterated records is a lot more useful to most folks than the same records entombed on microfilm in a vault in Salt Lake City. To paraphrase the Carpenters' song "Sing":
Transliterate.
Transliterate a vital record.
Don't worry if it's not good enough for anyone else to read.
Just transliterate.
Transliterate a record.
How to decipher Yiddish and Hebrew handwriting