Crowdsourcing in Archives & Libraries By, Chelsea Frank

Crowdsourcing defined by Wikipedia "Crowdsourcing is a neologism for the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by an employee or contractor and outsourcing it to a group (crowd) of people or community in the form of an open call. The difference between crowdsourcing and ordinary outsourcing is that a task or problem is outsourced to an undefined public rather than a specific other body. In crowdsourcing the activity is initiated by a client and the work may be undertaken on an individual, as well as a group, basis. Crowdsourcing has potential to be a problem-solving mechanism for government and non-profit use.”

Crowdsourcing Benefits Achieving goals the library/archive would never have the time, financial or staff resource to achieve on its own. Achieving goals in a much faster timeframe than the library/archive may be able to achieve if it worked on its own. To stay relevant

Benefits cont. Actively involving and engaging the community with the library and its other users and collections. Adding value & quality to data (e.g. by addition of comments, tags, ratings, reviews, catalogue corrections). Encouraging a sense of public ownership and responsibility towards cultural heritage collections, through user's contributions and collaborations.

Benefits Cont. Making data discoverable in different ways. Gaining insight from the crowd by listening to what they want. Demonstrating the value and relevance of the library/archive in the community. Strengthening and building loyal users.

Examples Having users mark errors in catalogues/subject headings Adding information to records Verifying name authority files Transcribing handwritten records Gaining user excitement towards new or old collections

Institutions already in action The NSW, New South Wales State Records, has created a crowdsourcing page on Flickr titled “Archives2Share” The page is popular with activity and gains new members daily The group post photos of their archive collections and allows users to tag, comment, and create discussion.

Brainstorming Steps Make a clear point/goal. Define your crowd, is it a specific group or everybody? Which social networks work best for the crowd; KickStarter, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, etc.

Brainstorming Cont. Make it clear how the process will work; contribution, selection, voting, etc. Will there be a deadline or will it be continuous? If there is a deadline than make sure it is obvious, create urgency. Create rewards for participants; tee-shirts, party, credit.

Brainstorming Cont. Join the Conversation & answer questions. Possibly create a voting poll so the crowd feels involved. Keep the crowd updated on process Finally, always give credit to all those who participated.

Work Cited Davey, Neil. "Ross Dawson: Six Tools to Kickstart Your Crowdsourcing Strategy." MyCustomer. Mycustomer, 01 July 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. <http://www.mycustomer.com/marketing/strategy/ross- dawson-six-tools-to-kickstart-your-crowdsourcing-strategy>. Willem Alphenaar , International Speaker, Jan. "10 Tips for Successful Crowdsourcing." Share and Discover Knowledge on LinkedIn SlideShare. LinkedIn, SlideShare, 21 Feb. 2010. Web. 05 Dec. 2016. <http://www.slideshare.net/jwalphenaar/10-tips- for-successful-crowdsourcing>. https://www.flickr.com/groups/archives2share/