Oral History Transcription Project

The Eckley Oral History Project is your chance to work as an archaeologist from the comfort of your own home. Eckley Miners’ Village has teamed up with the University of Maryland’s Eckley Archaeology Project to transcribe oral histories taken from Eckley residents in the 1970s, and we need your help. By helping us to transcribe these invaluable records, you will also gain a uniquely intimate perspective on life at Eckley. To jump right in, scroll down to “How to Join.” Here is an information session held on February 2, 2022 to introduce the project.

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HOW TO JOIN

To join the Eckley Oral History Project, first create a FromThePage account following these steps:

  1. Go to FromThePage.com.
  2. Click “Sign Up to Transcribe” on the top ribbon.
  3. Fill in the required information.

After logging in to your account, join the project following these steps:

  1. Go to FromThePage.com.
  2. Sign in to your account.
  3. Click “Find a Project” on the top ribbon.
  4. Type “Eckley” into the white search bar on the right-hand side of the page.
  5. Select “The Eckley Oral History Project.”
  6. Choose an oral history to transcribe by clicking on the title (ex. Vol 1.-Interview-Fedorsha).
  7. Click the button that says “Pages that Need Transcription” on the right-hand side of the page.
  8. Select a page by clicking on its title (ex. page_0001).

The transcription workspace will display a scan of the oral history page on one side of your screen and a blank white box on the other side. You will be able to zoom in, zoom out, and move the scan of the page. You can also select the “Fullscreen” button to enlarge the scan and blank white box, or you can change the layout of the scan and white box by clicking the “Layout” button.

When you are ready to transcribe, click in the white box and begin typing the text from the scanned image!

When you have completed a page, click the green “Done” button. If you have not finished transcribing the page, you can save your progress by clicking the gray “Save” button next to the “Done” button.

TIPS FOR TRANSCRIBING

  • If you have questions about the text or encounter an issue while transcribing, click the small white box next to “Needs Review” to have one of the project directors review the page. You can also type your questions or comments in the “Notes and Questions” box at the bottom of the page. (Note: You cannot see the “Notes and Questions” box when in fullscreen mode. You must first exit fullscreen mode to submit a comment.)
  • Transcribe the original spelling, capitalization, and punctuation, including mistakes, as seen in the scanned image.
  • Make sure to include the initials of the speaker in your transcription if they are present. Speakers’ initials are often located on the left side of the text. For example:

Oral history:

Transcription: