Maria Edgeworth Letters

How can I contact the project team?
The best way is to use the project Talk pages. These pages are monitored regularly, and a member of the project team will get back in touch with you as soon as they can.

I can’t read the handwriting; what do I do?
Transcribing Edgeworth’s handwriting can be difficult – sometimes, when she has been writing quickly, her characters are not well defined and her words run together; at other times, her pages can look very messy, especially when there are insertions, deletions, or revisions. The Project Team understands that the task is difficult – even we struggle to read some of Edgeworth’s writing, despite having studied it for years! Remember that all transcriptions will be checked by experts, so please try to transcribe as much of each page as you can. Please look at the Tutorial, Field Guide, and "NEED SOME HELP WITH THIS TASK?" link in the Classify section for help with the transcription task and project tips, and please visit the Tips for Transcribing Maria Edgeworth’s Handwriting Talk page for further guidance about Maria Edgeworth's handwriting. If you’re unsure of anything, please don’t hesitate to ask using the Talk feature. Previous experience of transcribing late eighteenth- or early nineteenth-century handwriting will certainly come in handy here, but it’s not entirely necessary – the more familiar you become with Edgeworth’s handwriting and style of composition, the easier the task should become. Also see the "Tips for Transcribing" in the Field Guide.

What type of device should I use?
The transcription task is best approached using a standard desktop computer or laptop with a mouse or trackpad, rather than a touch screen device. We do not recommend that you try to transcribe using a mobile phone.

How do I save my work?
There isn’t a save feature, so we encourage you to click “Done” to submit your transcriptions (even if you don't complete all pages in the image set). Once you’ve submitted a transcription – even if you haven’t transcribed the whole page – you won’t be given that page again. If you do see a page again, it will be under an “Already Transcribed!” flag, and subsequent transcriptions will not be counted.

Why are there multiple pages in a single transcription task?
There is one image per letter page, and pages within a single letter are usually grouped together. The longer the letter, the more pages there are to transcribe.

How will you acknowledge the work of Zooniverse volunteers?
We are grateful to all of our volunteers! Usernames of contributors will be posted in the coming months, but in the meantime and alternatively, you can share your name, username, and/or affiliation through a Google form. Users who share their information will be acknowledged through Zooniverse, our website https://mariaedgeworth.org/, and here.