History Hub: All Content - CROWD

Understanding tagging

Gail Andrews — Tue, 15 Dec 2020 18:16:40 GMT

I'm new and today is my second day! So before I get going too far please advise so I can start out as correctly as possible. So far I'm seeing many tags being missed or incorrectly tagged like every word to do with the subject for example which are keywords while the topic and much more is not being tagged.

I've read where you want things transcribed first and foremost of course and which brought me here with my trained background in that but seeing the need for tags or correct tags I'd like to help there more also.

Tags are placed to describe what the content is about and what it relates to. Most I've seen do none of that.

Here are some examples of what is vital to tagging and even if these only were done to begin with would be immensely helpful to those searching:

1. Subject, Author, Article genre: Suffrages would be a good example or Walt Whitman. I'm not seeing those tagged in many I've read so far.

2. Name of poem, book, collection, etc. Self explanatory and as it's not included sometimes in the typed content it especially should be thus tagged.

3. Year. When searching many times an ancestry/historian like myself wants to find what happened a certain year especially for educational purposes by Students as well. I'm not seeing a year where it was clearly included in the text or available at beginning of a book, etc.

If there is such a list as this, please advise me of the link to it so I can include others. Thank you!

Offering Transcription Help

Henry Rosenberg — Tue, 20 Apr 2021 18:11:31 GMT

Hi All!

Many people on this board doing By The People transcriptions have much experience and do not need help. Others have less experience and may have trouble with some of the script writing. When I first started doing this I had alot of trouble and spent much time trying to learn the handwriting of the person's papers I was transcribing. Many people don't have the time or patience and frequently give up. I would like to help people avoid that and help to encourage people to continue because there is so much work to do.

So, if you would like help with a particular page and the moderators approve this, feel free to post it here. I will be glad to look it over and see if I can help improve it. Please be assured my hope is that by showing people what the page should be, they will learn the handwriting and soon be able to tackle it all on their own. I can make modifications without saving them so you can compare. I can post the text of the page in response to your query.

Please be assured, I am not perfect and do make mistakes and occasionally have trouble with pages but by working together we can make our work as close to perfect as possible. After all, this is for history and posterity.

Happy transcribing,

Henry

Lodge-Roosevelt Correspondence

Laurence Jurdem — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 13:31:34 GMT

Hi everyone:

For those of you who have responded to my query many thanks. I think for all concerned it would be easier to send me your answers directly to my e-mail. That way I can send you the links to a particular letter.

Many thanks

Laurence Jurdem

Gail Andrews Henry Rosenberg

Calling all readers of German!

Abigail Shelton — Tue, 13 Apr 2021 20:19:40 GMT

Hi everyone,

A volunteer working on the Clara Barton collection sent us this 3-page letter that looks to be written in German. If you can read and understand German, take a look at the links below! We'd love your help.

page 46: https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/clara-barton-angel-of-the-battlefield/general-correspondence/mss119730369/mss119730369-4…

page 47: https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/clara-barton-angel-of-the-battlefield/general-correspondence/mss119730369/mss119730369-4…

page 48: https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/clara-barton-angel-of-the-battlefield/general-correspondence/mss119730369/mss119730369-4…

Abby

Helpful Links for crowd.loc.gov

Lauren Algee — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 14:17:27 GMT

Welcome to CROWD!

This is a space is for sharing and learning about By the People, a Library of Congress project that invites you to transcribe the Library’s collections. Join us as a virtual volunteer at crowd.loc.gov.

Visit By the People

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Library of Congress Commenting and Posting Policies

About this space

Lauren Algee — Tue, 23 Oct 2018 15:37:44 GMT

Welcome to CROWD in History Hub, a space for sharing and learning about By the People. By the People is a Library of Congress project that invites you to transcribe, review, and tag digitized pages from the Library’s collections through our website at crowd.loc.gov.

Everyone is welcome to take part! Volunteer-created transcriptions improve search, readability, and access to handwritten and typed documents for everyone, including people who are not fully sighted.

We hope you’ll ask questions and share your experiences exploring, transcribing, and tagging in By the People. Library of Congress Community Managers monitor this space and we will do our best to respond to your posts in 3-5 days. We want to make sure we’re getting you correct answers and context, so some responses may take longer if we need to consult with one or more of the Library’s many knowledgeable subject experts.

Posts are moderated and we follow Library of Congress web privacy and comment policies.

Help transcribing letters from Henry Cabot Lodge to Theodore Roosevelt

Laurence Jurdem — Fri, 02 Apr 2021 18:22:24 GMT

Hi everyone:

I am wondering if anyone would have an interest in transcribing some letters from Senator Henry Cabot Lodge Sr. to Theodore Roosevelt. I am writing a book on their relationship and could use the help. The letters are super detailed and interesting. Lodge was Roosevelt's closest friend, advisor and mentor. The letters between the two are very candid involving all different aspects of late 19th and early 20th century politics. Feel free to let me know.

Best,

Laurence Jurdem, PH.D.History Hub Administrator

Introduce yourself and meet the crowd.loc.gov community.

V. Van Hyning (formerly of By the People LOC) — Mon, 22 Oct 2018 21:45:01 GMT

Hello! Thank you for taking the time to explore History Hub, the discussion space for the Library of Congress' latest crowdsourcing initiative.

We'd love to hear from you about what brings you to the project, how you're using crowd.loc.gov in the classroom or for your research, and the interesting things you've discovered while transcribing. Don't worry, you don't have to be an educator, researcher or even a regular participant on the project to chime in! You're welcome here, and we're grateful to all our volunteers for any time they can spend transcribing, reviewing, tagging or chatting about the Library's fascinating collections.

"Save" vs. "submit"

Abigail Shelton — Wed, 07 Apr 2021 13:19:45 GMT

A few volunteers have asked us to clarify the "save" and "submit" features on the site and we're happy to help. A useful way to think about these two buttons is to imagine that they are switches that direct the transcription onto two different tracks. Kind of like a railroad!

Image 1: The save button appears in bold as soon as you begin entering text in the transcription box.

The first-"save"-will send the transcription data onto the "In Progress" track. There the transcription can be picked up by another volunteer to finish. After you hit the "save" button and leave the page, the pages are marked as "In Progress" and any volunteer can start working. Please note that saving a page doesn't reserve it for you but rather releases it for any volunteer to be able to work on. You should use "save" when:

You aren't able to finish a transcription but want to make sure that information you worked on stays in the transcription box.
You have finished a transcription and want to "submit." You must first select "save" and then immediately select "submit for review." (see below for further instructions.) If you just select "save", the transcription will remain on the "In Progress" track until someone else hits "submit" and moves it to the "Needs Review" track.

Image 2: The "submit" button appears in bold once you save your work and should be used when you are completely finished.

The second-"submit"-moves the transcription onto the "Needs Review" track. Then another volunteer, who has registered for a By the People account, can look over your work and either make edits or approve the transcription as complete and accurate. After you hit "submit," the transcription is marked as "Needs Review" and other volunteers can find it by selecting the "Needs Review" label on the campaign or project page. Every single transcription needs to go through at least one round of review by another volunteer. Also, you cannot review or approve your own transcriptions. You should use "submit" when:

You have completed transcribing a page, have already hit "save", and are ready to move the transcription onto the "Needs Review" track!

We hope that helps clarify how each of these buttons works. But if you have more questions, feel free to reply to the thread here or take a look at our help documentation on By the People.

And if you didn't notice, these images feature Teddy Roosevelt letters! Jump in to transcribe and review the campaign here: https://crowd.loc.gov/campaigns/rough-rider-bull-moose-theodore-roosevelt/

Thanks all!

Abby

transcribing etiquette

Peter Dunbar — Tue, 08 Sep 2020 22:11:22 GMT

I'm new to transcribing for history hub. I've been searching in vain for a guide on transcription etiquette. While transcribing for another organization I received an assignment of 10 pages. I transcribed the content. It was all mine to complete. History Hub seems to be a free-for-all where anyone can add to or edit at will. If so, that's ok with me. I'm just worried that if I start in the middle of a document that I'm stepping on someone else's toes or violating some aspect of community etiquette.

I hope that there is a guide already compiled on sharing and editing work. If so will someone send me the link?

Thanks!!

Pete