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The Smithsonian is Crowdsourcing their Research

We can do lots of stuff electronically in today’s world that wasn’t possible as short as a decade ago. We can obtain graduate degrees, complete our grocery shopping, and pay our bills without having to leave our chairs. Why not help a museum convert material? The Smithsonian announced they are trying to go digital giving people greater ability to research, explore, and contribute to the institution. They hope that by using crowdsourcing they can digitize their archives at a faster and cheaper rate than traditional methods According to Smithsonian Secretary Wayne Clough, " For years, the vast resources of the Smithsonian were powered by the pen; they can now be powered by the pixel ( 1 )".   He further elaborated, “ We are thrilled to invite the public to be our partners in the creation of knowledge to help open our resources for professional and casual researchers to make new discoveries ( 2 ) ”.    Volunteers can simply sign up on their website and then transcr