Crowdsourcing: Projects, Tools and Planning

Chair: Jennifer Hecker, The University of Texas at Austin/Austin Fanzine Project

At the intersection of the constraints presented by the current economic climate and the increasing

capabilities of digital technology, archivists are presented with new opportunities to rethink the

way we approach some aspects of our work. In this context, crowdsourcing has become a hot topic.

This session provides an overview of some interesting crowd‐sourcing projects now underway as

well as a survey of some of the tools available, a few warnings about common pitfalls, and a project

planning case study.

• Austin Fanzine Project: An Introduction - Jennifer Hecker, The University of Texas at Austin/Austin Fanzine Project
  
• Crowdsourcing the Arcane: Utilizing Flickr to Describe Medieval Manuscript Fragments - Micah Erwin, Harry Ransom Center
• Platforms for Crowdsourcing Manuscript Transcription - Ben Brumfeld, From The Page
• Moderator -Kevin Powell, Austin Fanzine Project/UT Austin