The Library of Virginia has a project called Transcribe. Transcribe is a user participation project in which volunteers help to transcribe documents from Virginia’s history. I chose to participate in this project and transcribe some grave records.
I chose this project because it seemed pretty straightforward. I looked through lots of different projects, and a lot of them had handwriting that was really difficult for me to read. Although this project was still quite difficult to read, the fact that each row had consistent data, it was much easier for me. Each row had the following information: month and day of death; name; age in years, months, and days; address of death; cause of death; number of section and grave; undertaker; price in dollars and cents; and expense in dollars and cents. I honestly didn’t understand what all of the information meant. For example, I have no idea what the difference between price and expense were. However, I don’t think it’s all that important. I checked over what I typed a few times to make sure everything was correct. Not only did I want to make sure I was transcribing things correctly, such as correct spelling, but I also know that I have a tendency to mistype when I’m typing quickly. Furthermore, for the causes of death, I double-checked with google to be sure I was listing things correctly, as many of the causes of death were diseases that I wasn’t exactly sure of the spelling of. I found this project to be rather challenging, but I enjoyed it. I think I may do more in the future with this specific project, as I know many people find data entry to be tedious, but I rather enjoy it. I think the project benefitted from my work for that same reason.
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DescriptionThis blog will aim to capture the many projects and ideas that occur throughout this Digital History course. Specific focus on the impact of the digital world on the recording and changing of language will be noted.
AuthorHello, welcome. I'm Asher. As a linguistics and language focused student, I aim to track the ever changing nature of language through digital history in this blog. Enjoy your stay. ArchivesCategoriesFurther Reading |