Getting started

Welcome to The Arch Project, a collaborative tool that helps you transcribe, share and discover historical manuscripts. Using this site as a reader is easy. You can browse the collections, or search for a specific name, place, or institution. This page will tell you everthing you need to know to get started as a contributor. We've tried to build the site so that it's intuitive to use, but this page clarifies the structure of the site and some basic terminology.

Contents

Structure of the site
Registering as a contributor
How to create a new entry
How to edit an entry

Structure of the site

Since The Arch Project is designed to accommodate manuscripts from a wide range of regions, time periods, and functional specialties, its basic structure is hierarchical and relatively generic. There are four basic levels of organisation:

  1. Items: A specific, citable unit of manuscript material, such as a folio, page, roll or sheet. Transcription happens at the item level. Some manuscripts have multiple numbering systems, so please include details of any secondary or tertiary numbering systems in the notes section of an item or manuscript. Every item's parent element is a manuscript.
  2. Manuscripts: A set of items organised together as a discreet unit, e.g. a box composed of loose sheets, a large roll, a codex of bound folios, etc. The parent element of a manuscript could be a series or it could be an archive (see below)
  3. Series (or collections): Some manuscripts are part of a series relevant to a specific organisation or collected by a particular person (for example the Harley series/collection at the British Library), while others are integrated directly into the catalogue of an archive. The parent element of every series/collection is an archive.
  4. Archives: As referenced at The Arch Project, and archive is a physical location--a library, local history centre, etc at which manuscripts are curated, catalogued, stored and (generally) made available for review.
As The Arch Project evolves, we'll keep an eye on whether this generic structure strikes the right balance between precision and flexibility. Your feedback is most welcome.

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Registering as a contributor

In order to create or edit entries in The Arch Project, you'll need to register as a contributor. When you do so, you'll be asked for some basic information, and to confirm that you won't transcribe any manuscript that is under copyright. Regisering will also create a public profile page, which displays the nickname you've chosen, the transcriptions you have contributed, and your research interests. You can see what a public profile looks like here.

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How to create a new entry

First, make sure you understand the terminology used on the site. In the structure of the site, every level of organisation has a parent and/or a child. That means you can only create a transcription of a specific page if its parent elements exist. If they do not exist, you'll have to create them before creating the item-level element in which your transcription will be stored. Here's a useful check list and set of questions to help you add transcriptions to the arch project:

  1. Sign in. You won't see the links for adding or editing elements on the site unless you're signed in. The link to sign in is in the upper right corner of every page.
  2. Does an entry exist for the archive? Check this page for the archive that holds your manuscript. If it doesn't exist, click the red "Add an archive" box to add it. Once added, you'll be taken to the archive's newly-created page.
  3. Is the manuscript part of a series or collection? If so, check for that series or collection on the page of the appropriate archive. If the series doesn't exist, click on the link "Add MS series/collection" to add it.
  4. Does an entry exist for the manuscript? Consult the lists on the appropriate archive or series/collection page. If it's not listed already, you can create it by clicking the "Add MS" link at the top of the list.
  5. Has someone already begun a transcription of this specific item? You can find a list of exisitng transcriptions on the manuscript page. If the item you're transcribing isn't listed, click on the link to create a new item. After hitting the 'Add item' button, you'll be taken to that item's new page. Choose the appropriate tab (whether you're planning to modernise spelling and punctuation in your transcription) and then click the red "Edit" box to begin adding your transcription.
If you have any other questions, please contact support.

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How to edit an existing entry

Editing an entry that already exists is easy. From the page of the entry itself, click on the red "Edit" button in the corner of the content box, which will take you to a form where you can make the changes you want. Don't forget to hit the "Save" button when you're done editing.

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