At the moment, the system used for transcribing items has been taken offline. We are working on migrating the current system to a new and improved one that will have a better public interface, make it easier to transcribe items, track progress, and facilitate our review of transcriptions. We apologize for any inconvenience that this may cause. We will work to keep those involved with the project updated as migration progresses. If you have any questions, please contact spcoll@wm.edu.
The transcription project of "From Fights to Rights: The Long Road to a More Perfect Union" is a massive effort by volunteers to transcribe manuscripts such as diaries and letters in our special collections and make them available online.
Our staff and volunteers have already started to scan thousands of our manuscripts from the Civil War era and make images of the documents available online. Once we digitize the documents, we assign each document to a volunteer for transcription. You do not need to visit us to volunteer, but you're welcome to visit. Transcribing a document means literally typing the text of a previously handwritten document - mistakes and all! Special Collections staff will check completed transcriptions and add them to the online collection. The transcriptions are an important part of making the documents accessible to the public as it allows each document to be searchable.
