Opportunity

A year ago I was introduced to an at-home, volunteer data entry opportunity. This is an online process whereby handwritten information from old records (census, various licenses, etc.) is keyed into data tables. This not only preserves the information, it then becomes searchable and accessible to the public. I liked the concept, and it seemed like a good match for me given my open schedule, notwithstanding my unpredictable energy swoons and vocal/mobility challenges.

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I have primarily worked on US Census sheets from the early twentieth century. When I began, I remember feeling frustration at the handwriting of some of the census takers. Some of the names were illegible and the writing was poor. It was as if they didn’t realize that I might be reading it 100 years later, on electronic media that not only didn’t exist, but they scarcely could have imagined!

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As I did more census sheets, not only did I become more accustomed to the names and the writing, I began to feel an enormous sense of gratitude for the enumerators. This had to be tedious work. They could not have known how their efforts in the “industrial age” would survive into the “information age.”

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I also feel gratitude toward the visionaries, software engineers, photographers and everyone else who have undertaken this mammoth project and have allowed me to help in a tiny way. I have learned over the past few years that my sense of self-worth is highly correlated to my productivity. Doing this work helps to remind me that while I may be disabled, I am not incapacitated.

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Won’t you join in the effort? It is so easy to get started. Just click here and then follow the big blue buttons. You do not need a big chuck of time; sometimes I will only spend 5-minutes at a time. But it saves your work instantaneously and every name helps. Don’t worry that you might get something wrong; there are no grades and everything will be double-checked. Just type what you see and do your best. I can assure you that you will not regret starting this and it will be a great blessing in your life.