In this activity, you will learn to search for digitized primary sources and practice reading and transcribing a handwritten document. This portion of the module can easily be done asynchronously or as an after-class activity for a synchronous session.
- Start by watching the Rubenstein Library’s short instructional videos [see below] that explain a bit about digital collections and give suggestions for how to best search the collections.
- Next, visit the Benjamin and Julia Stockton Rush Papers Digital Collection and locate one additional document (not included in Activity #1) that dates from the 1793 Philadelphia yellow fever epidemic.
- After you've located a document, try to read and transcribe the first 8-10 lines of the document. Post your transcriptions to a Sakai forum or other shared online space to compare your results and get help from your classmates.
Note: Transcribing handwritten documents from the 18th century is hard! Don't worry if you can't get all of the words - just try to get as many as you can and see if you can work out some of the others.
