You Can Help the Library of Congress Transcribe Walt Whitman’s Poems and Letters
The Library of Congress needs your help transcribing some of the lesser-known works of one of America’s most famous poets.
The LOC holds the world’s largest collection of Walt Whitman manuscripts, containing thousands of his handwritten documents, including letters, poems, and other writings. On May 31, 2019, they honored the 200th anniversary of Whitman’s birth by making a push to transcribe its archives through its crowdsourcing program, By the People.
More than half of the Whitman collection, which originally consisted of close to 4,000 documents, has been completed so far. Roughly 1,860 transcriptions still need to be reviewed.
From hand-scribbled edits on printed versions of O Captain! My Captain! to personal letters to his family, the public is being asked to wade through a veritable treasure trove of Whitman artifacts.
The goal of transcribing and tagging digitized Library of Congress collections is to make them keyword searchable, readable by individuals and accessibility technologies, and available for textual analysis.
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Everyone is welcome to take part. You don't even need to create an account, but if you do, you'll have access to additional features such as tagging, and reviewing other people's transcriptions.
So, what are you waiting for? Get in there and help make literary history!
