{"id":1959,"date":"2024-10-16T03:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-10-16T03:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/?p=1959"},"modified":"2024-10-20T10:28:12","modified_gmt":"2024-10-20T10:28:12","slug":"the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

We\u2019re delighted to announce an exciting new phase of the \u2018Material Culture of Wills\u2019 project \u2013 the launch of our Zooniverse<\/a> site. We hope that the Zooniverse \u2018crowdsourcing\u2019 platform will allow us to involve hundreds of new volunteers in the project who will work with us to transcribe our sample of 25,000 English wills made between 1540 and 1790. This post explains the bite size tasks participants will be asked to complete, and what the benefits are of joining the volunteer community.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

How does the Zooniverse volunteer community fit into the project as a whole?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In our project to date we\u2019ve worked intensively with a small group of expert volunteers<\/a> to develop cutting-edge Artificial Intelligence by training a Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) model. We\u2019ve now used this HTR model to automatically transcribe the contents of wills from five periods: 1538-52, 1604-08, 1664-6, 1725-6 and 1785-6, totalling 25,000 wills in total. The transcriptions produced by the HTR model aren\u2019t 100% accurate however, and sometimes it gives inconsistent results for the different styles of handwriting that appear in these Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian documents. Harnessing the skills and knowledge of volunteers will enable us to improve the accuracy and overall quality of our transcriptions.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
A screenshot from the ‘Material Wills’ Zooniverse page, showing an image of a will on the left, and an editable transcription text box on the right <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

What exactly does contributing on Zooniverse involve?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Participants can help us check these automatically generated transcriptions and suggest corrections where needed. Using the online \u2018Zooniverse\u2019 platform, you will be shown one line of text from the manuscript wills at a time, and will be asked to compare each image with its automatically generated transcription. You don\u2019t need to sign up or create a Zooniverse account, and you are welcome to contribute as much or as little as you would like – the \u2018bite-size\u2019 transcription checking tasks are designed to fit around other commitments.\u202fChecking a line of text can be done on your computer, tablet, or smartphone – you could have a go while waiting for the kettle to boil, or while standing at the bus stop. We estimate that we have around 2 million lines of text to check in total, and each line will be checked 3-4 times – this is why the project team can\u2019t do this without your help!<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
A screenshot from the home page of the ‘Material Wills’ Zooniverse page<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Why get involved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By joining us on Zooniverse, you\u2019ll become part of a research project which aims to reveal how ownership of, and attitudes towards, objects changed in a period of profound economic transformation. The data you create will become the basis of various academic presentations and publications.<\/a> By helping us transcribe these wills, you’ll make a vital archive of English history more accessible, and lay foundations for future initiatives to widen access to The National Archives<\/a>\u2019 manuscripts.\u202f\u202fYou\u2019ll have the opportunity to improve your reading of Tudor, Stuart, and Georgian handwriting as training is provided on our Zooniverse site. By contributing to the project you can also join a vibrant Zooniverse community and talk to other interested volunteers on our dedicated project talkboards.<\/a> Finally, we hope that you\u2019ll find reading these snapshots of early modern English life just as interesting as we do, since wills can provide a window into the lives of people who lived hundreds of years ago that we otherwise don\u2019t have much information about.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
A QR Code that will take you to our Zooniverse page<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Where do I start?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To have a go at working with early modern wills and to help us to open up this manuscript collection to as wide an audience as possible, visit our Zooniverse site at: https:\/\/www.zooniverse.org\/projects\/hjsmith\/the-material-culture-of-wills-england-1540-1790<\/a>   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When you first visit the site, click on \u2018Classify\u2019. A dialogue box will prompt you to pick a workflow \u2013 \u2018Handwriting Training\u2019, \u2018Checking Transcriptions\u2019, or \u2018Transcribing Wills\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you want a refresher for reading early modern handwriting, you might want to start with \u2018Handwriting Training\u2019, or otherwise click \u2018Checking Transcriptions\u2019. When you click on any of these three workflows, a pop-up \u2018Tutorial\u2019 will appear. Work through the \u2018Tutorial\u2019 to begin with, and you can also revisit it at any point.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
A screenshot from the home page of the ‘Material Wills’ Zooniverse page<\/em>, with the pop-up dialogue box that asks you to choose a workflow.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Where do I find further guidance?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you\u2019ve already worked through the \u2018Tutorial\u2019, have a look at the \u2018Field Guide\u2019 \u2013 it\u2019s a blue link in between the will image and the transcription box when you\u2019re completing a workflow. The \u2018Field Guide\u2019 contains guidance for reading the handwriting (palaeography), sample alphabets and common words and phrases, and our transcription conventions. You can also have a look at our FAQ<\/a> page, or if there\u2019s anything else you\u2019re not sure about, you can see if your question has been answered, or talk to other users or members of the project team on our project talkboards.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you prefer a visual guide, we\u2019ve also created some \u2018quick start\u2019 guides to using Zooniverse on our YouTube channel: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@MaterialWills<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Remember, each line will of text will be shown to 3-4 users \u2013 so don\u2019t panic <\/strong>if you\u2019re not sure what it says \u2013 we have lots of mechanisms in place to check that the final transcriptions are accurate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We very much hope to see you over at Zooniverse<\/a>, and please, do tell your friends!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re delighted to announce an exciting new phase of the \u2018Material Culture of Wills\u2019 project \u2013 the launch of our Zooniverse site. We hope that the Zooniverse \u2018crowdsourcing\u2019 platform will allow us to involve hundreds of new volunteers in the project who will work with us to transcribe our sample of 25,000 English wills made […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1453,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[43,45,47,71,79,67,69],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Wills Project Calls for Volunteers! - The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers! - The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We\u2019re delighted to announce an exciting new phase of the \u2018Material Culture of Wills\u2019 project \u2013 the launch of our Zooniverse site. We hope that the Zooniverse \u2018crowdsourcing\u2019 platform will allow us to involve hundreds of new volunteers in the project who will work with us to transcribe our sample of 25,000 English wills made […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-10-16T03:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-10-20T10:28:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En-1024x598.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/\",\"name\":\"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers! - The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En-1024x598.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2024-10-16T03:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-10-20T10:28:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#\/schema\/person\/cd0ef0ed47a1f3cd9cee0627be6bf16d\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En.png\",\"width\":1192,\"height\":696},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers!\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/\",\"name\":\"The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790\",\"description\":\"Generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#\/schema\/person\/cd0ef0ed47a1f3cd9cee0627be6bf16d\",\"name\":\"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dda44e8bd9a5385ff1d95932fabd8ff6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dda44e8bd9a5385ff1d95932fabd8ff6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/author\/e-m-vineexeter-ac-uk\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers! - The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers! - The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790","og_description":"We\u2019re delighted to announce an exciting new phase of the \u2018Material Culture of Wills\u2019 project \u2013 the launch of our Zooniverse site. We hope that the Zooniverse \u2018crowdsourcing\u2019 platform will allow us to involve hundreds of new volunteers in the project who will work with us to transcribe our sample of 25,000 English wills made […]","og_url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/","og_site_name":"The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790","article_published_time":"2024-10-16T03:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-10-20T10:28:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En-1024x598.png"}],"author":"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/","name":"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers! - The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En-1024x598.png","datePublished":"2024-10-16T03:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2024-10-20T10:28:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#\/schema\/person\/cd0ef0ed47a1f3cd9cee0627be6bf16d"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/375\/2024\/10\/2024-10-09-10_42_09-Checking-Transcriptions-Eighteenth-Century-_-The-Material-Culture-of-Wills_-En.png","width":1192,"height":696},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/2024\/10\/16\/the-wills-project-calls-for-volunteers\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Wills Project Calls for Volunteers!"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/","name":"The Material Culture of Wills, England 1540-1790","description":"Generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#\/schema\/person\/cd0ef0ed47a1f3cd9cee0627be6bf16d","name":"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dda44e8bd9a5385ff1d95932fabd8ff6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/dda44e8bd9a5385ff1d95932fabd8ff6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"e.m.vine@exeter.ac.uk"},"url":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/author\/e-m-vineexeter-ac-uk\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1453"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1959"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2001,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1959\/revisions\/2001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.exeter.ac.uk\/materialcultureofwills\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}