Frank Parker
https://frankparker.website
I thought I would share this email I had today with you, it looks like a great project! 
Using Rootsweb By Jana Lloyd
World Archives Project: Saving the World’s Records Fifteen Minutes at a Time
I know many of you RootsWeb users are avid volunteers. You spend hours of your personal time transcribing records for local historical societies, serving as admins on RootsWeb message boards and mailing lists, and performing look-ups or other services for genealogy newbies and friends.
Well, I want to introduce you to one more opportunity to be of service to the genealogy community. And if you haven’t spent much time helping out this community in the past, perhaps this will be the opportunity that finally catches your attention.
Ancestry.com has just launched an initiative this month—called the World Archives Project—to allow anyone to transcribe records to put up on their site. I know some RootsWeb users have mixed feelings about Ancestry.com and would resist putting time into anything that goes up behind Ancestry’s “paid wall,” but I think this project is really a win-win for everyone. First of all, the indexes created by these efforts will be kept on Ancestry for free—anyone can access them (to view any record images you will have to be an Ancestry member—but all indexes are free). Second, Ancestry is such a known name in the genealogy world that helping get records up on their site ensures the records will be easily visible and available to all—unlike some transcriptions that get buried in binders in a local library or perhaps on a smaller website.
I have tried out the new community keying software that is at the heart of this project and found it easy—and even fun—to use. It is very similar to the indexing software used by FamilySearch.
To participate, you simply download the software (use your RootsWeb or Ancestry login—or create one for free if you don’t already have one), go through a brief tutorial, then start transcribing records, using the online helps along the way if you get stuck. You’ll be given a sheet or two of records to transcribe—from a state census for example—and each batch will take you only about fifteen minutes. Also, while you need an Internet connection to download the software and the records—as well as to upload them when you’re done—you don’t need to be online to do the transcriptions. So if you have a laptop you can take it with you anywhere you want (the beach, the laundry mat, the library) and transcribe any time you have a few free minutes.
Like with the FamilySearch system, each record is transcribed by two individuals and if the transcriptions match they are accepted into the system; if there is a discrepancy, the record image is sent to an experienced arbitrator who makes the final decision about what the record says. This system of checks and balances should make the indexes even more accurate than those records on Ancestry that were keyed by a single individual.
All of the individuals I’ve spoken with who tested out this software for Ancestry while it was in its beta stages have not only enjoyed it—they’ve learned a lot. Besides being a professional piece of software that is easy to use, it makes you feel like you’re making a legitimate contribution to a well-organized project that will benefit thousands of people.
Also, transcribing the records gives you a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to actually create these online indexes—trying to read handwriting that got scrunched into a small space at the end of a line, or just to read a difficult page of handwriting. And, of course, there are the stories that the records tell.
I spoke with one woman who had indexed a set of Wisconsin mortality schedules (lists of deceased people not included in censuses), who was particularly touched when she ran across the record for Willie Foster, a one-year-old boy who died of inflammation of the lungs.
“I couldn’t help but wonder what this child looked like,” she said, “if his mother loved him as dearly as I love my little boys, and how she ever managed to overcome the loss of her baby. . . . I realized that my family is much, much larger than I had ever considered and encompasses not only my blood kin, but all of the Willie Fosters in the world—all of the people who deserve to have their names, their stories, no matter how short or sad, documented and appreciated.”
If you want to learn more about the World Archives Project or download the software and start transcribing records, go here.
Using Rootsweb By Jana Lloyd
World Archives Project: Saving the World’s Records Fifteen Minutes at a Time
I know many of you RootsWeb users are avid volunteers. You spend hours of your personal time transcribing records for local historical societies, serving as admins on RootsWeb message boards and mailing lists, and performing look-ups or other services for genealogy newbies and friends.
Well, I want to introduce you to one more opportunity to be of service to the genealogy community. And if you haven’t spent much time helping out this community in the past, perhaps this will be the opportunity that finally catches your attention.
Ancestry.com has just launched an initiative this month—called the World Archives Project—to allow anyone to transcribe records to put up on their site. I know some RootsWeb users have mixed feelings about Ancestry.com and would resist putting time into anything that goes up behind Ancestry’s “paid wall,” but I think this project is really a win-win for everyone. First of all, the indexes created by these efforts will be kept on Ancestry for free—anyone can access them (to view any record images you will have to be an Ancestry member—but all indexes are free). Second, Ancestry is such a known name in the genealogy world that helping get records up on their site ensures the records will be easily visible and available to all—unlike some transcriptions that get buried in binders in a local library or perhaps on a smaller website.
I have tried out the new community keying software that is at the heart of this project and found it easy—and even fun—to use. It is very similar to the indexing software used by FamilySearch.
To participate, you simply download the software (use your RootsWeb or Ancestry login—or create one for free if you don’t already have one), go through a brief tutorial, then start transcribing records, using the online helps along the way if you get stuck. You’ll be given a sheet or two of records to transcribe—from a state census for example—and each batch will take you only about fifteen minutes. Also, while you need an Internet connection to download the software and the records—as well as to upload them when you’re done—you don’t need to be online to do the transcriptions. So if you have a laptop you can take it with you anywhere you want (the beach, the laundry mat, the library) and transcribe any time you have a few free minutes.
Like with the FamilySearch system, each record is transcribed by two individuals and if the transcriptions match they are accepted into the system; if there is a discrepancy, the record image is sent to an experienced arbitrator who makes the final decision about what the record says. This system of checks and balances should make the indexes even more accurate than those records on Ancestry that were keyed by a single individual.
All of the individuals I’ve spoken with who tested out this software for Ancestry while it was in its beta stages have not only enjoyed it—they’ve learned a lot. Besides being a professional piece of software that is easy to use, it makes you feel like you’re making a legitimate contribution to a well-organized project that will benefit thousands of people.
Also, transcribing the records gives you a greater appreciation for how difficult it is to actually create these online indexes—trying to read handwriting that got scrunched into a small space at the end of a line, or just to read a difficult page of handwriting. And, of course, there are the stories that the records tell.
I spoke with one woman who had indexed a set of Wisconsin mortality schedules (lists of deceased people not included in censuses), who was particularly touched when she ran across the record for Willie Foster, a one-year-old boy who died of inflammation of the lungs.
“I couldn’t help but wonder what this child looked like,” she said, “if his mother loved him as dearly as I love my little boys, and how she ever managed to overcome the loss of her baby. . . . I realized that my family is much, much larger than I had ever considered and encompasses not only my blood kin, but all of the Willie Fosters in the world—all of the people who deserve to have their names, their stories, no matter how short or sad, documented and appreciated.”
If you want to learn more about the World Archives Project or download the software and start transcribing records, go here.
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