Unruly Hordes or Altruistic Communities?: Crowdsourcing in Academic Institutions

Abstract

This thesis uses surveys, interviews, and blogs to examine crowdsourcing in archives, libraries, and other academic institutions, with special focus on the connection between crowdsourcing and traditional volunteering and on the benefits of crowdsourcing for archives. Traditional volunteers in libraries and archives and crowdsourcing volunteers are both motivated primarily by enjoyment in the task at hand and by a strong sense of community and friendship among their fellow volunteers. Crowdsourcing provides archives with an opportunity to achieve work that they would not have the resources to achieve otherwise and provides increased outreach opportunities by allowing volunteers to engage with archival records. This thesis also traces a history of crowdsourcing projects, in archives and otherwise, and provides a series of recommendations for those considering starting a crowdsourcing project.