Your Transcriptions are Important

 our Transcriptions are Important

 

    Our digital archive holds thousands of pages of handwritten diaries - much more than library
    staff or any one individual could ever transcribe alone, so your help matters. By transcribing
    even a few pages you help make these hard-to-use but highly useful documents more accessible. 

    Genealogists and local historians will be able to quickly search for people and places from the
    comfort of their homes. Scholars can search specific themes and do qualitative, quantitative and
    spatial analysis. Viewers can enlarge images and use AT technology for their reading pleasure.
    Your transcriptions help everyone to quickly search for specific information, engage the past in
    new ways and enjoy it more easily.

 

 


And consider having some fun along the way.

Perhaps your local historical society would like to hold a transcribe-a-thon that focuses on a diary from your area. Think of the public spirit that the process might illicit, the valuable searchable document you would create, the various spin-off projects, and how folks might check out their attics and unearth more precious documents.

Teachers can engage students in group projects setting challenges for the most words transcribed and assignments that engage students in their local history or everyday life 150 years ago. 

Contact some of your relatives and put a family transcription team to work on Aunt Mabel’s diary.

Please join us in preserving our rural past.

 

We would like to hear about your transcription experience or group project. Contact us or complete our online survey.