A challenge for 2017 - become a transcriber for FreeREG

[clairec666]

A year ago I started transcribing for FreeREG. Despite not spending as much time transcribing as I could have done, I've completed nearly 6000 records. It's only a tiny proportion of the 37 million records in FreeREG's database, but hopefully my transcriptions have helped someone.

So here's my mission for 2017:
1) Transcribe more! Finish the post-1813 records for Burnham-on-Crouch, and either tackle the earlier records (aaah!) or start a new parish
2) Recruit more transcribers

If you've ever thought about transcribing, why not give it a go? If you've been researching your own tree for a while, you'll be used to the handwriting (yes, you'll find the occasional bit of appalling scrawl, but you can always post it on rootschat for others to help you with). It feels great to know that you're putting good-quality transcriptions online, and helping others with their research.

My tips - volunteer for a part of the country you're familiar with, pick a small parish to start with (so you feel you're making progress) and start with post-1813 baptisms and burials (standardised forms and generally easier handwriting).

I find WinREG really easy to use, and it's easy to upload your work (and importantly, you can make corrections and re-submit it).

Of course it's not just FreeREG - there are other projects to get involved in too.

So who's in?

[Andrew Tarr]

I've been at it for over a year.  I enjoy trying to unravel fading stuff in unfamiliar script.  The only slight niggle I have is that much - maybe most, or even all - of what I/we are doing is already accessible on other free sites such as the Lancs Project.  I would like to expand the free availability, not just duplicate it.

[BumbleB]

I do transcribe, but I've taken the easy option - FreeBMD    Been doing it for a few years now and I'm told that I've contributed 302,454 entries to date.  It's amazing how things have changed since I started - now on 1969 marriages, and I'm currently on page 371 of the September quarter which covers the surnames beginning with "C" (at roughly 120 entries per page that means at least 44,520 entries before reaching those surnames beginning "D"). 

I, of course, echo the sentiments of Andrew and Claire.    Let's all put something back into this fascinating hobby obsession of ours.

[groom]

I'm seriously considering it. A question though, I see that  WinREG is  "the very latest Windows based utility for entering Baptism, Marriage and Burial information from church registers for the FreeREG project."  I have an Apple Macbook Pro Retina, would that software work on my laptop?

[Andrew Tarr]

... I have an Apple Macbook Pro Retina, would that software work on my laptop?

I would think so, it's only a purpose-adapted spreadsheet with some bells and whistles, maintained by a guy in Johannesburg.  He seems to respond quickly to my emails - I believe a fully revised version will appear shortly.

[clairec666]

I'm seriously considering it. A question though, I see that  WinREG is  "the very latest Windows based utility for entering Baptism, Marriage and Burial information from church registers for the FreeREG project."  I have an Apple Macbook Pro Retina, would that software work on my laptop?

From http://test.freereg.org.uk/winreg/index.htm
"Neither version of WinREG will run on Mac, or Linux etc Operating Systems in native mode. It will, however, run as a PC application under a Windows partition on such computers if it is installed."

This is complete gobbledegook to me

[groom]

From http://test.freereg.org.uk/winreg/index.htm
"Neither version of WinREG will run on Mac, or Linux etc Operating Systems in native mode. It will, however, run as a PC application under a Windows partition on such computers if it is installed."

This is complete gobbledegook to me

Me too! I'd obviously have to install something to allow me to run Windows and I don't want to do that.

[Andrew Tarr]

I would think so, it's only a purpose-adapted spreadsheet with some bells and whistles, maintained by a guy in Johannesburg.  He seems to respond quickly to my emails - I believe a fully revised version will appear shortly.

When I wrote this I assumed that your PC was able to run other Windows packages - clearly, if it can't, it won't run WinREG either.  Sorry.

[Old Bristolian]

I transcribed for several years for FreeReg, and latterly did so on my Mac. I used the Mac speadsheet and then "exported" it to Excel before sending it
on to the co-ordinator, who uploaded it for me,

Steve