Helena Ralph of Causeway U3A initially took the NI lead in starting the Postal Pensioners 1901 Shared Learning Project, in conjunction with King’s College, London, is now hoping to recruit more interested parties from u3a for a transcription exercise which is a sub-set of the overall project being run by the College and involving u3as in GB.
Helena’s u3a, Causeway is supporting this initiative along with King’s College and the National Shared Learning Coordinator, Maggy Simms. I am delighted that NI is generating this activity on the SLP front and I hope that Helena recruits a large number of helpers.
INVITATION TO JOIN IN A NEW SPECIALIST ACTIVITY INITIATIVE.
This is the Transcription of handwritten Victorian Postal Records, housed at the National Postal Museum in London. These relate to all regions of the U.K. as well as pre-partition Ireland.
Some handwritten records have been digitally scanned and now need to be converted to typed digital media to increase their accessibility to researchers and the public. To take part all you need is a computer, internet access and some ability to read older handwriting. Causeway u3a may pilot this as a specialist group activity, for a limited number of weeks to gauge interest, with a view to including members of other branches in the longer term.
There are also two, much wider, public events upcoming in the near future, which you may want to browse and take part in. Please see below. This will give you a sense of the type of work involved if you would then like to join a u3a group of Historical Documents Transcribers. This “back room” activity is a vital part of enabling the fascinating stories of ordinary people and everyday institutions to be told and held for future generations.
Please send any expressions of interest about joining the u3a initiative or queries about using and joining in the public events to Helena at Helena’s email.
YOUR INVITATION TO BOLDLY GO:
• ZOOMIVERSE LAUNCH 2021 January 26th.
Addressing Health.
This is a transcription platform where you read the handwritten content on screen and convert it to typed data. The instructions are clear at each stage and are entitled “workflow”. It is free to use and you must register to use it. The records are not classified by region, rather by date; in this case the launch focus is the year 1899
• TRANSCRIPTION TUESDAY 2021 February 2nd.
Addressing Health 2
This is an online volunteer event run by the famous T.V. show “Who Do You Think You Are” and their magazine. This year’s event takes place on February 2nd. It deals with making pre-existing historical paper records more accessible to the public by typing them into a digital form. Last year 7000 volunteers worldwide completed 25000 digital records in one day! That is an average of just over three individual records each! This is a great introduction to the fascinating world of transcribing handwritten records to a digitally accessible format.
One of the not for profit projects being supported this year is “Addressing Health” a cooperative study based at Kings College London and on this occasion will be concentrating on Postal Pension records transcription from the 1860s’ on February 2nd.
Please also see the link to the overall project website. This particular project seeks to detail the health and illnesses of Victorian and Edwardian postal workers nationwide.
The Overall Project
