MLIS student Domenic Rosati worked with SIM Lecturer Patti Bannister and her team on this project as a reading course this past fall. Congratulations to all involved – a very successful pilot.

“Lovers of handwriting have long cursed computers for spelling the end of the ancient craft, but a new crowdsourcing program from the Nova Scotia Archives lets them put their passion for penmanship to work in deciphering historic documents.

John MacLeod, senior archivist at the archives, said they’ve put scans of many documents online, but reading them can be tricky.

“The handwriting is at times challenging. Increasingly, in a computer world, people’s appreciations and ability to decipher handwriting is lessening over time,” he told CBC.

Earlier this year, with help from a student from [MLIS student Domenic Rosati], the archives came up with an idea to invite members of the public to read the scans online and type a transcription beside it.”

Read the full article here.