CKPL Newspaper Microfilm Index Card Catalog

First, thank you for volunteering! This is a huge project and we need plenty of help. Below you will see some drawer names. They correspond to the actual cabinet drawers found in the CKPL McKeough Local History room (refer to the picture above). The drawers shown are ready for transcribing. As drawers are completed, they will be replaced with other drawers.

Pick a drawer. Click on the worksheet and images folder links to open in separate tabs.

Suggestions for easier transcribing:

• If you are working on a computer, right click on each link and choose to open in a separate window. Now, you can snap the two windows so you can see them side by side on your screen.

• or Use your phone/tablet to view the images and your computer to transcribe to the worksheet.

Check the worksheet to see the last image that was worked on. Pick the next image that hasn’t been completed and transcribe to one or more rows on the worksheet depending on the number of newspaper article references. Refer to this downloadable guide for detailed transcription instructions. Click on the sample cards to the right to see how to transcribe the different types of cards you might encounter.

You may see different colour circles moving around and words being typed in, that are not yours. This is normal as other people are working on the same document as you are. If you are concerned at all, try switching to a different drawer.

This system auto saves your work, so don’t worry about that. When you are done, just close the window.

Send any questions or feedback to [email protected]. Feedback will help refine our instructions and samples for other transcribers. Thank you again for helping with our project!

There are some cards that have the date in this format. If the article is from the Chatham Daily Planet, it is possible to search for the article on Canadiana. If you are not able to access the source article, enter the date as you see it and a volunteer will review the microfilm at the library to determine the date.

Sometimes this happens when others have worked in the worksheet. If you click in a cell and then use the left arrow key, the columns will come back onto the screen.

That’s okay. It doesn’t matter whether your entries are in consecutive rows.  If someone else transcribes a card before you have finished with yours, you can just move to another row.  The worksheets will be moderated and sorted frequently so they will always display in order.

Sometimes when the typed letters go right to the edge of the card, the last digit of the year is cutoff. If you experience this, enter a ? for the missing number(s) and we will go back to the physical card later to fill in the missing information.

Type the name exactly as you see it on the card. We have transcribers from outside the area who may not recognize that the name in brackets is a location rather than a maiden name. It is easier for the library to decide to remove these after the fact rather than not including them at the time of transcription.