The transcription of handwritten personal documents is a factor that makes research difficult,
requiring the expenditure of time and resources. The present research aims to contribute to the
investigation of the use of digital paleography, together with the practice of crowdsourcing.
Likewise, propose guidelines that can guide a collaborative transcription project, focusing, as
a case study, on the Personal Correspondence series, belonging to the José de Alencar fund of
the Arquivo-Museu de Literatura Brasileira (AMLB). The first chapter focuses on exposing
the manuscript collections, outlining their historical and social significance, as well as
exploring the application of digital paleography in their transcription practices. Furthermore,
the relevance of handwritten documents for institutions dedicated to the preservation of
memory is highlighted. In this chapter, there are three subchapters, whose themes are distinct:
the first subchapter delves into the intersection between manuscript collections and the
investigation of memory, exploring their connections and mutual contributions; the second
subchapter addresses the manuscript collections present at AMLB; and the third subchapter,
the application of Digital Humanities in manuscript collections. The second chapter is
dedicated to an analysis of the use of crowdsourcing as a practice for transcribing
manuscripts. This chapter presents a subsection focused on the platforms used for this
purpose, detailing the operation and characteristics of FromThePage, Scribe Framework and
Transkribus. The following subsection presents a case study on the projects Library of
Congress by the People, from the American Library of Congress, and What’s on the Menu?,
from the New York Public Library. There is a following subsection dedicated to comparing
the platforms presented, highlighting their advantages, disadvantages and specific uses. In the
subsequent chapter, the third, a specific focus is given to the developed product, which
materializes in the form of a guide for operationalizing the experimental transcription project,
being made available in digital format.
Banca examinadora: Medeiros, Ana Ligia Silva, FCRB, (orientadora); Cabral, Eula Dantas Taveira, FCRB (banca); Rangel, Aparecida Marina de Souza, FCRB (banca); Miranda, Jair Martins de, UFRJ (banca).