Tag-team : a website for crowdsourced tagging of archival photos

The digital landscape is changing how history is being preserved. Archives are starting to publish their collections online. In doing so, they have created opportunities for the construction of innovative projects which turn their users into citizen historians. This thesis examines digital projects that archives at GLAM institutions (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums) have created that promote interactive access of their digitized collections by the general public. Special attention is paid to those initiatives that "crowdsource" information from the public. I explore how they petition users to contribute their own historical knowledge and even artifacts in order to collaboratively build a better understanding of history. This research forms the basis of my own project — a website that asks users to describe historic photographs from the collections of the Ball State University Archives. Users beta tested the website in order to determine if it would be a viable option for further development and implementation at Ball State University and other small institutions.Thesis (B.?)Honors Colleg