David Ferriero's recent post over on the AOTUS blog made mention of NARA's Wikipedia ExtravaSCANza in the context of a discussion of the "Yes We Scan" initiative and a broader digitization strategy. I want to take the opportunity to recap the citizen archivist scanning the National Archives has been hosting for Wikipedians in recent months. … Continue reading Yes, Wikipedians Scan
As part of the recently launched Citizen Archivist Dashboard, you can now participate in the National Archives Transcription Pilot Project. By contributing to transcriptions, you can make these historical documents more accessible to the public. The transcription pilot features over 300 documents (about 1,000 pages) ranging from the late 18th century through the 20th century. … Continue reading Introducing the National Archives Transcription Pilot Project!
With the growing hype surrounding the upcoming release of the 1940 Census, it has come to the attention of Archives staff that some misinformation may be starting to appear regarding what type of information you will find in the census and how it will be searchable. One such tidbit that recently showed up online alleged … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: The 1940 Census and Social Security
This post was written by guest blogger Diane Dimkoff, Director of Customer Services The National Archives Trust Fund is replacing current copiers and the copy card system in the research rooms of College Park, MD (Archives II) and Washington, DC (Archives I) in early 2012. The new copiers/scanners will have more features than the current copiers. The new … Continue reading New Copiers/Scanners and Copy Card System
Recently, the National Archives introduced the Citizen Archivist Dashboard where citizen archivists can crowd-source the records of the National Archives. The Dashboard contains several "tagging missions" that feature records and images from our holdings including over 2800 images of World War II posters, 483 photographs taken by photographer Lewis Hine, and the petition against the annexation of Hawaii which contains 21, … Continue reading Tag It Tuesday! Citizen Archivist Dashboard
January is traditionally a time of new beginnings. With the turning of the calendar page to a new year comes an opportunity to start fresh with a clean slate. In Digitization Services (IDS), we have some ideas for where to focus our renewed energy – moving our quality efforts from a project into a program. … Continue reading Quality is the New Normal: Implementing a Quality Focused Program in Digitization Services
Throughout this holiday season, we encourage you to participate in the exciting activities featured on the Citizen Archivist Dashboard, which is available starting today. Check it out and try tagging, transcription, editing articles, uploading digital scans, and participating in contests all related to the records of the National Archives. We hope that you’ll share any suggestions … Continue reading 'Tis the Season to Participate Online!
Ever wonder what exciting new projects the many employees at NARA are working on? The “What are You Working On?” blog feature aims to introduce a variety of NARA employees and highlight some of the exciting projects we are working on around the agency. Check for this blog series on Wednesdays! Continuing our series-within-a-series on … Continue reading What Are You Working On, Shirley Baker?
Tag It Tuesday's all shook up! Our pals over at the Our Presidents tumbler are celebrating "Elvis in the Archives" week and we thought we'd join the fun. Sure, the King is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame but you can also find him in the National Archives. Included in the Archives' holdings … Continue reading Tag It Tuesday! Elvis Edition
Today's post is written by Katie Dishman, of the National Archives at Chicago. The economy has been at the top of the newscasts, not to mention peoples’ thoughts, for several years now with no end in sight. Although there has been prosperity since World War II, during the difficult war years the government worked at … Continue reading NARA Coast to Coast: The Coupon Craze of the 1940s
