National Library of Finland uses crowdsourcing to help digitisation

Stephen Withers
Thursday, 10 February 2011 06:58

The National Library of Finland has turned to crowdsourcing to clean up errors in digitised documents. Volunteers are rewarded by turning the tasks into a game.

So the Library is using Microtask's crowdsourcing platform to turn the drudgery into a game. Two games, in fact.

In Mole Hunt (Myyräjahti), the player is shown two different words, and they must determine as quickly as possible if they are the same. This uncovers erroneous words in archived material. In Mole Bridge (Myyräsilta), players have to spell correctly the words appearing on the screen. Correct answers help badgers build a bridge across a river.

"We wanted to set up 'Angry Birds for the thinking person' - something which entertains but is also useful to us as a nation," said Library director Kai Ekholm. "Starting with a games application, we expect to attract schoolchildren interested in the Finnish language and history.

"Teachers can use our e-program for teaching purposes or school projects. Our program may also provide a hobby for the elderly or other people who want to stimulate their brain."