Teen Transcribers

Do you fancy yourself an amateur historian? Can you read script like a pro? The Emma S. Clark Memorial Library needs your help! As Suffolk County’s oldest public library in terms of continuous community service from its original location, we are actively preserving our history and are in the process of transcribing many handwritten documents from as early as the 1890s. We are looking for skilled, dedicated teens and tweens to decipher and transcribe these documents for posterity.

In order to assemble a group of transcribers who can do truly beneficial work deciphering these historical documents, interested teens and tweens (grades 6-12) will be required to take a Transcribing Test at the Library, prior to being added to the roster of Teen Transcribers.  Tests will be scheduled on an as needed basis; there will be several more opportunities to take the Test if you cannot make the first available date.  The Test will take about 1 hour and consist of 6 excerpts of different handwriting and typeface that represent the contents of the majority of the documents Teen Transcribers would be working with.  Teens and tweens who can transcribe the texts with an accuracy rate of 80% or more will qualify to join the Teen Transcribers team!  Test takers will earn 1 hour of community service credit for taking the Transcribing Test, even if they do not qualify to become Teen Transcribers.

Teen Transcribers will be scheduled to come into the Library on an as needed basis, for up to 3 hours at a time.  They will work on PDF photocopies of original historical documents, transcribing them into searchable documents on our computers in the Tech Center.  Transcribing sessions will be scheduled based on the availability of the Library Staff involved in this project and will vary in days of the week and times.  Teen Transcribers will be emailed dates and times for Transcribing sessions, as they are scheduled. Teen Transcribers will earn community service credit for their efforts.

This opportunity to be a part of preserving history will last as long as it is needed; once everything we are archiving is transcribed, the library will retire the team, with endless thanks for their hard work!

Interested?  Email Teen & Tween Services Department Head Librarian Emily Ostrander to request dates and times of the Transcribing Test sessions!  emily@emmaclark.org