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Citizen science through old maps: volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

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Citizen science through old maps : volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project. / Aucott, Paula; Southall, Humphrey; Ekinsmyth, Carol.

In: Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, Vol. 52, No. 3, 08.08.2019, p. 150-163.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Harvard

Aucott, P, Southall, H & Ekinsmyth, C 2019, 'Citizen science through old maps: volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project', Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, vol. 52, no. 3, pp. 150-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/01615440.2018.1559779

APA

Aucott, P., Southall, H., & Ekinsmyth, C. (2019). Citizen science through old maps: volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project. Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History, 52(3), 150-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/01615440.2018.1559779

Vancouver

Aucott P, Southall H, Ekinsmyth C. Citizen science through old maps: volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project. Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History. 2019 Aug 8;52(3):150-163. https://doi.org/10.1080/01615440.2018.1559779

Author

Aucott, Paula ; Southall, Humphrey ; Ekinsmyth, Carol. / Citizen science through old maps : volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project. In: Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History. 2019 ; Vol. 52, No. 3. pp. 150-163.

Bibtex

@article{094f9ec0886941cb90890c9151e3732c,
title = "Citizen science through old maps: volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project",
abstract = "The GB1900 project transcribed almost all text on 1:10,650 mapping covering Great Britain, published circa 1900: 2.6 million geo-referenced text strings, so possibly the largest specifically historical gazetteer. Nearly 1,200 volunteers made 5.5 million transcriptions, including “confirmations”. This paper describes the project{\textquoteright}s interaction with online volunteers and then presents their experience, as recorded through the online system itself, six in-depth interviews and 162 responses to an online questionnaire. We find that, unlike volunteers in physical science “citizen science” projects, they were motivated by personal interest in the maps, in places that held meaning for them, and in how places had changed. These conclusions enable us to offer suggestions for volunteer recruitment and retention in similar future projects.",
keywords = "crowd-sourcing, citizen science, gazetteer, GB1900, motivation, embargoover12",
author = "Paula Aucott and Humphrey Southall and Carol Ekinsmyth",
year = "2019",
month = aug,
day = "8",
doi = "10.1080/01615440.2018.1559779",
language = "English",
volume = "52",
pages = "150--163",
journal = "Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History",
issn = "0161-5440",
publisher = "Routledge",
number = "3",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - Citizen science through old maps

T2 - volunteer motivations in the GB1900 gazetteer-building project

AU - Aucott, Paula

AU - Southall, Humphrey

AU - Ekinsmyth, Carol

PY - 2019/8/8

Y1 - 2019/8/8

N2 - The GB1900 project transcribed almost all text on 1:10,650 mapping covering Great Britain, published circa 1900: 2.6 million geo-referenced text strings, so possibly the largest specifically historical gazetteer. Nearly 1,200 volunteers made 5.5 million transcriptions, including “confirmations”. This paper describes the project’s interaction with online volunteers and then presents their experience, as recorded through the online system itself, six in-depth interviews and 162 responses to an online questionnaire. We find that, unlike volunteers in physical science “citizen science” projects, they were motivated by personal interest in the maps, in places that held meaning for them, and in how places had changed. These conclusions enable us to offer suggestions for volunteer recruitment and retention in similar future projects.

AB - The GB1900 project transcribed almost all text on 1:10,650 mapping covering Great Britain, published circa 1900: 2.6 million geo-referenced text strings, so possibly the largest specifically historical gazetteer. Nearly 1,200 volunteers made 5.5 million transcriptions, including “confirmations”. This paper describes the project’s interaction with online volunteers and then presents their experience, as recorded through the online system itself, six in-depth interviews and 162 responses to an online questionnaire. We find that, unlike volunteers in physical science “citizen science” projects, they were motivated by personal interest in the maps, in places that held meaning for them, and in how places had changed. These conclusions enable us to offer suggestions for volunteer recruitment and retention in similar future projects.

KW - crowd-sourcing

KW - citizen science

KW - gazetteer

KW - GB1900

KW - motivation

KW - embargoover12

U2 - 10.1080/01615440.2018.1559779

DO - 10.1080/01615440.2018.1559779

M3 - Article

VL - 52

SP - 150

EP - 163

JO - Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History

JF - Historical Methods: A Journal of Quantitative and Interdisciplinary History

SN - 0161-5440

IS - 3

ER -

ID: 8959881