Looking for a new job? Even a part-time one? The Library of Congress (LOC) might be the answer. Biz Journals brought this interesting information to our attention in their article, “Library of Congress needs your help decoding historical papers.”
The U.S. Government is seeking volunteers to help make handwritten correspondence from historical figures like Red Cross founder Clara Barton, civil rights leader Rosa Parks and 16th president Abraham Lincoln searchable online.
If you’re a history buff looking for a productive way to spend your free time, this might be right down your alley.
Many historical figures left behind a legacy of handwritten correspondence that chronicled their journeys. Unfortunately, the documents are faded and some written in heavily slanted cursive, making it difficult for computers to decipher or decode.
The LOC’s goal is to have volunteers transcribe all of the handwritten material so they can be put into an online searchable database.
By the People is an online transcription platform where anyone with an internet connection can transcribe documents from the LOC’s digitized collections.
Melody K. Smith
Sponsored by Access Innovations, the world leader in taxonomies, metadata, and semantic enrichment to make your content findable.
