Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine’s annual volunteer event, Transcription Tuesday, is back again for 2024! This year’s date is easy to remember (remember) – it’s the fifth of November!
Transcription is the act of typing up handwritten historic records and turning them into searchable databases. The Internet has made it possible for more people than ever before to search for their ancestors. Records that were once only accessible in local archives are now transcribed online – often thanks to volunteer transcribers. The Internet has also made it easier for records to be transcribed. People can now join online transcription projects from wherever they are in the world, working from virtual scans of the original documents.
We first launched Transcription Tuesday in 2017, because we wanted to give back to the family history community. Every year, we partner with a set of different volunteer transcription projects. Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine staff take part in online transcribing, and we invite all our readers to join in as well. Over the years, we’ve transcribed thousands of documents, including parish registers, railway workers’ accident books, sailors’ hospital records and asylum registers.
This year, as usual, we’re inviting all our readers to join us on Transcription Tuesday. You can do as much or as little as you want. It’s fun and challenging, and we always uncover surprising and fascinating stories of ordinary people’s lives in the records. And you can join the online Transcription Tuesday community to share how you’re getting on, hear from other volunteer transcribers and ask for help when you’re stuck.
Read on to find out more about our two Transcription Tuesday projects this year. On the day itself, please share your stories by email, on our Facebook group or using #TranscriptionTuesday on X.
