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FromThePage provided by Leiden University Libraries

What is FromThePage?

FromThePage is free software that allows volunteers to collaborate to transcribe handwritten documents on-line. It's easy to index and annotate subjects within a text using a simple, wiki-like mark-up. Users can discuss difficult writing or obscure words within a page to refine their transcription. Because FromThePage runs in your browser, you can read and transcribe materials from anywhere -- including tablets and smart phones. The resulting text is hosted on the web, making documents easy to read and search.

Features of FromThePage include:

  • Wiki-style editing: Users add or edit transcriptions using simple, wiki-style syntax on one side of the screen while viewing a scanned image of the manuscript page on the other side.
  • Version Control: Changes to each page transcription are recorded and may be viewed to follow the edit history of a page.
  • Wikilinks: Subjects mentioned within the document may are indexed via simple wikilinks within the transcription. Users can annotate subjects with full subject articles.
  • Presentation: Readers can view transcriptions in a multi-page format or alongside page images. They can also read all the pages that mention a subject.
  • Automatic Markup: FromThePage can suggest wikilinks to editors by mining previously edited transcriptions. This helps insure editorial consistency and vastly reduces the amount of effort involved in markup.
  • Integrations: FromThePage integrates easily with systems where your documents are already loaded, including the Internet Archive and Omeka.
  • Translation: FromThePage supports foreign language material which can be transcribed in full UTF-8. A translator's workflow allows creation of parallel texts.
  • OCR Correction: Not just for handwritten materials, FromThePage can import OCR alongside the original image for users to correct and edit.

How do I get started?

This service is run by the Centre for Digital Scholarship at Leiden University Libraries for use in research and education at the University. Anyone can sign up for an account and help with transcriptions (even people not affiliated with the University), but to add documents for transcription, you need special permissions.

Ask Ben Companjen at the Centre for Digital Scholarship for information.

Preparing a Work For Transcription has information on how to get works into FromThePage.