Research
Thank you for helping us to transcribe the important diaries of author Miles Franklin.
Miles kept detailed pocket diaries from 1909 until her death in 1954 and they provide incredible insight into her life. These diary pages reveal the everyday, the moments of joy and the many disappointments of one of the great writers of the twentieth century.
Transcribing these diaries means making them more accessible, discoverable and useful for research and study.
Below is an outline of how to undertake the transcription activity. This content is also available on the 'tutorial' tab once you get started with your transcription.
Logging in
Please note that you do not need to be logged in to complete transcription, but if you would like to post in our Talk help forums, you will need to sign up for a Zooniverse account.
Transcribing the diaries
Pages from Miles' diaries are presented to you randomly when you visit this project. Her entries were typically succinct and did not go over two pages, meaning that you should be able to transcribe an entire daily entry from a single image.
There are a few different types of pages available for transcription that you will find here
- daily diary entry
- general notes
- monthly calendar planner
Diary entry
The most common type of page you will be asked to transcribe is a diary entry, like the image below.
We will first ask to transcribe the Month and Year the entry is from, as highlighted in the example image. In this instance the month and year is April 1952.
We will then ask you to transcribe the Day and Date of the entry. In the example image this would be Wednesday 30.
Then we will ask to to transcribe Miles' diary entry in full to the best of your ability. Please type your transcription in the text box provided.
If possible, please try to transcribe all the handwriting from the page in full. Once you submit your work you won't be able to come back to continue working on it. If you don't have the time or capacity to complete a whole page though, that's okay! Just transcribe what you can and submit it when you're done.
General notes
Some of Miles' diaries include pages of notes or writings that are not related to a specific calendar date. In these instances we will not ask you to transcribe any calendar information such as month or day as shown on the previous slide. Please transcribe these notes in the text box provided.
Monthly calendar planner
Some of Miles' diaries include a monthly list of scheduled events or appointments. If you find one of these pages, please transcribe the associated printed dates with her handwritten entry as this provides important contextual information.
From the example image, these lines should be transcribed in the following format:
S. 6 Taking Dad to theatre
Transcription help
If at any time you get stuck or are unsure how to transcribe a particular word or entry, there a couple of tools to help you.
Firstly you can refer to our Field Guide, as pictured below, which is linked on the right hand side of this page. The Field Guide provides additional information about how to transcribe particular features within text like abbreviations and brackets. It will help with how to transcribe if you find a handwritten word you're having trouble deciphering, if you find a blank page and what to do if you come across crossed out text.
Under each image from this collection, you will also find more information should you need it, such as a link back to the Library's catalogue record. Look for the 'i' information icon at the bottom right hand side of the image:
If you still have a question that needs answering, you can post in Talk - a user forum that is monitored by our team. If at any time you need help, choose the blue "Talk" button to post your question. Please note: to post in Talk you will need to be signed up for a Zooniverse account.
Happy transcribing!