Smithsonian Transcription

Date: Must be submitted on Google Classroom by May 10th, 2023

Hours: 1 hours per page transcribed/2 hours per video transcribed

Location: Remote opportunity

# of Volunteers: Anyone can participate!

Responsibilities: Transcribe a historical document from the Smithsonian website and upload your transcription.

Link: https://transcription.si.edu/browse?filter=&sort=&difficulty=

Notes: 

• There will be a cap on the number of hours you will be able to receive:

  • You can transcribe a MAX of 2 pages, awarding you with a max of 2 hours. 

  • You can transcribe a MAX of 1 video, awarding you with a max of 2 hours. 

  • Please note that you can either choose to transcribe the videos OR the documents to earn your hours, and not both.

Instructions: 

1. Once you click the link above, you’ll be directed to the Smithsonian Museum Transcription Center page. 

2. Click the drop-down menu that is labeled “Show:” to click the topic of historical documents that you wish to transcribe. 

3. Then click the third drop-down menu, labeled “Difficulty:” to choose the level of difficulty of the documents. Note that a higher difficulty document does NOT mean you get more hours for it. 

4. Choose a document to transcribe which has not already been completed. Click the document, which leads you to a list of pages. Each page is labeled “Complete” “Needs Review” or “Continue Transcribing.” Choose a page labeled “Continue Transcribing” only- and make sure that the document you choose is incomplete and hasn't already been finished by someone else. You will not be able to earn hours for transcribing a document that had been nearly finished when you chose it. 

5. When you open the page that you wish to transcribe, there is a notification that comes up asking you if you’ve read the tutorial for the assignment- you MUST thoroughly read these instructions before beginning to transcribe. There are important directions on those instructions that must be read. 

6. Transcribe according to those instructions, and submit a screenshot on the google form attached of your final transcription before you submit it. If you choose to do 2 pages, you will have 2 screenshots to attach, etc. 

An example of the screenshot is attached below: