By the People Launches First Wholly Non-English Crowdsourced Transcription Project

Items in Spanish, Latin and Catalan from the 15th to 19th

Centuries Showcase the Library’s Global Legal Collection

The Library of Congress' crowdsourcing initiative By the People has launched its newest campaign to enlist the public’s help to make digital collection items more searchable and accessible online. Herencia: Centuries of Spanish Legal Documents includes thousands of pages of historical documents in Spanish, Latin and Catalan.

As the first entirely non-English crowdsourced transcription project by the Library, this campaign will open the legal, religious and personal histories of Spain and its colonies to greater discovery by researchers, historians, genealogists and lifelong learners.

The Library of Congress acquired this collection of 15th to 19th century documents in 1941, and the Law Library of Congress is the custodian of the physical collection. The majority of these documents are briefs related to disputes of inheritance and titles of nobility, taxes and church privilege. Items of special interest include documents pertaining to the Spanish Inquisition, opinions of legal scholars of the Church, decisions rendered by the king’s courts on a variety of cases and subjects, and other decrees by Spanish kings and government officials.

The Library invites the public to help improve access to this unique collection of historic Spanish legal documents. With this campaign, the Library aims to transcribe the documents word-for-word, so that users can more easily read and discover these primary source materials. Transcriptions will help identify names, places and dates missing from the current descriptions, as well as other details still waiting to be discovered.

Anyone can join in via the project website at crowd.loc.gov. All documents are transcribed and reviewed by volunteers, and completed texts are published on loc.gov to enhance search and access.