I thought I'd write a quick post about some of the different online volunteer options I've dealt with. I like internet projects because they allow me to use the spare minutes in between events to do something worthwhile and beneficial. For whatever it's worth:
Project Gutenberg: Project Gutenberg is a non-profit that is placing out-of-copyrighted materials online for free. Volunteers upload books and proofread the texts to correct them for any errors. I use Project Gutenberg a lot, so much that I don't really buy any pre-1930 books anymore. http://www.gutenberg.org/
Wikipedia: If nothing else, Wikipedia editing is fun because of the nerdy Wikicommunity that has grown up around it. It has its own hierarchy, alliances, awards, etc. In the spirit of Project Gutenberg, I like Wikipedia simply because it's one of the most effective mechanisms for disseminating knowledge.
Mormon Texts Project: The MTP was a project founded by my friend Ben Crowder, and is systematically uploading and proofing out-of-copyright early Mormon works onto Project Gutenberg. Right now I'm working on John Taylor's On the Mediation and the Atonement, some of the books we've completed thus far include A Rational Theology by John Widstoe, Succession in the Presidency by B.H. Roberts, and The Great Apostasy by James Talmage. http://bencrowder.net/category/mormon-texts-project/
Galazy Zoo: GalazyZoo is a project that is trying to map out the universe. Volunteers are trained in how to identify and categorize galaxies that have been photographed using the Sloan telescope; they then upload their observations into a database. http://www.galaxyzoo.org/
2 comments:
Pretty cool. I admit to being an off-and-on Wikipedia editor (looking up "Adonis" the other day, I had to remove a bunch of Charlie Sheen references posted by trolls--they're probably back on now).
When I was on bedrest (while pregnant with Maddy) I did some extraction work that helped me feel somewhat useful while I was lying there keeping my baby safe. I was doing census records and the work was a lot harder than I expected. That old handwriting can be really hard to read.
Post a Comment