Research Guides: Digital Crowdsourcing: National Archives

Introduction

The National Archives has called on ordinary citizens to transcribe its digitized collections. Prospective volunteers can create an account with the National Archives and create transcriptions, tags, and comments for digitized materials. Records available through the National Archives span a wide variety of topics, and volunteers can search within the National Archives catalog to discover materials relevant to their own interests.

Links

Register and Get Started
Learn how to register, introduce yourself to the National Archives’ system, and introduce yourself to the transcribing, tagging, and commenting work you may perform.
Registration
Create an account by signing up with a username, password, name (which will not be publicly displayed without your permission), and email address.
Resources
Access more detailed webpages and videos describing how to join, transcribe, comment, and tag.
Frequently Asked Questions
Read answers to frequently asked questions about contributing to this project. This page contains further helpful information about making contributions to records, troubleshooting, and the purpose of this project.
Citizen Archivist Missions
View spotlighted groups of records ready for transcription and tagging. At the bottom of the page, view available projects separated by difficulty level.
National Archives Catalog
View the National Archives Catalog. Search for records that interest you, and, after signing up as a volunteer, help make those records easier for others to find and use.
National Archives Catalog Newsletter
View past editions of the National Archives Catalog Newsletter. This newsletter educates users on how the National Archives Catalog works and on its collections. Because the National Archives subscribes volunteers to the Newsletter when they register, volunteers do not need to use this page to sign up for the Newsletter.