The By the People crowdsourced transcription program invites you to transcribe, review, and tag digitized pages from the Library’s collections on crowd.loc.gov. Everyone is welcome to take part! Volunteer-created transcriptions improve search, readability, and access to handwritten and typed documents for everyone, including people who are not fully sighted.
All transcriptions are made and reviewed by volunteers before they are returned to loc.gov, the Library's website. You don't need to create an account to transcribe, but registered users can tag and review other people's transcriptions. Learn how to get started here. By the People is powered by the open source crowdsourced transcription platform Concordia, developed by the Library of Congress.
We launched By the People in 2018. The name comes from the closing line of Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, which states “...government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth." The name reflects the spirit of democracy of this transcription program, which asks you to join us in enhancing Library of Congress digital collections.
Visit the By the People website to transcribe Library of Congress digital collections. Volunteer transcriptions help make Library collections more discoverable and accessible for all.
