Yesterday we asked a question on the blog about transcribing NARA's handwritten records. Thanks to those of you who commented for the ideas and examples! We love the idea of crowdsourcing and have been thinking about how we could make it work for NARA. Projects like the one that Craig mentioned at the Australian National … Continue reading Follow-up to Our Question About Transcription
Question: What tools and processes do you suggest we use to transcribe NARA’s billions of pages of handwritten documents quickly and efficiently?
Transcribing billions of pages of handwritten documents is no easy task. Between the effects of time on paper and ink, the vagaries of individual handwriting, and history's less-than-consistent spelling conventions, making sure historic records are intelligible (much less full-text searchable!) is easier said than done. What tools and processes do you suggest we use to … Continue reading Question: What tools and processes do you suggest we use to transcribe NARA’s billions of pages of handwritten documents quickly and efficiently?
Family Tree Friday: How did your ancestors interact with the federal government?
Family research at the National Archives centers on the use of federal records. To start the process, we always advise researchers to first consider how their ancestors may have come into contact with the federal government during the course of their daily lives. If your great-grandparents purchased a homestead in Nebraska, they probably filed an application … Continue reading Family Tree Friday: How did your ancestors interact with the federal government?
Introducing Family Tree Fridays
We are happy to announce that we are going to start having posts on Fridays that are related to family history and genealogy research -- with an emphasis on online research and access. John and Katherine will be joining our team of bloggers, and they plan to take turns posting. Look for the first post … Continue reading Introducing Family Tree Fridays
Mathew Brady Photos on Flickr
This afternoon we posted the first batch of Mathew Brady Civil War photographs on our Flickr photostream. These are at a higher resolution (300 dpi) than they are elsewhere online. We are planning to post all 6,066. If looking at this selection sparks your curiosity, browse or search among all 6,000 now in the Archival … Continue reading Mathew Brady Photos on Flickr
Question: Have you (or one of your students) used National Archives' records in a National History Day project?
Students and Teachers: Have you (or one of your students) used National Archives' records in a National History Day (NHD) project? What were the records, and how did they shape what you thought about your topic? In order to help students and teachers find historical materials relevant to their research, we post a list of … Continue reading Question: Have you (or one of your students) used National Archives' records in a National History Day project?
NARA Staff Favorites: Online Records
We've loved reading your suggestions and comments about sharing NARA's holdings on Flickr, and it's been interesting to see which images people are marking as favorites. All of this got us wondering about which records NARA insiders are particularly fond of, so we asked a few of our experienced colleagues for their picks. First up... … Continue reading NARA Staff Favorites: Online Records
Question: How would you like to see ordering copies of archival records work?
As much as we love to sit in NARA's research rooms and experience the look and feel of original records, it's just not always convenient (or possible) to take a cross-country trip in the name of research. In those cases, the next best thing is to order reproductions, either through mail-order forms or online. Readers … Continue reading Question: How would you like to see ordering copies of archival records work?
Free NARA Documents on Footnote.com
Are you looking for documents by the Continental Congress, court records related to the Amistad, details on the assassination of President Lincoln, or FBI investigative case files from World War I? You now have ready access to documents like these, which capture important American ideals and events that have shaped our country. More than 20 … Continue reading Free NARA Documents on Footnote.com
Question: What are your favorite biographical resources, online or in print?
What are your favorite sources for looking up biographies? Do you have a favorite site online, or do you swear by a particular print source? We're in the very early stages of planning a wiki for the National Archives and have recently been considering including a biography section on the site. Our tentative plan is … Continue reading Question: What are your favorite biographical resources, online or in print?