Genealogists are invited to participate in 72-hour scanning marathon
December 6, 2018: On the weekend of January 11-14, 2019, WikiTree and GeneaBloggersTRIBE will kick off the new year by hosting a 72-hour image scanning marathon. Genealogists and family historians from around the world are invited to participate.
The goal of the Scan-a-Thon is to scan and upload photos and other items such as letters, postcards, funeral cards, and primary documents. Like a marathon, this is a competition to see who can do the most, but most participants won’t be serious competitors. Most will be doing it for the sake of preserving family history.
To add to the fun and collaborative atmosphere, participants will be organized into teams by geography and genealogical interest, such as Team Acadia, Nor’Easters, Windsor Warriors, Flying Dutchmen, and Legacy Heirs.
Live chats will be hosted every few hours during the three-day event for participants to cheer each other on. During every chat, a Scan-a-Thon t-shirt will be given away to a randomly-drawn participant who has registered in advance on WikiTree.
“Photos and documents can truly enhance our research, giving a face and details to our ancestors and their lives that we might not otherwise have,” says WikiTree “Forest Elf” Eowyn Langholf. “This is why we’re encouraging everyone to join us in preserving this important part of our family history.”
Volunteers can participate during the 72-hour period by scanning photos and documents in their collection and uploading them to the Internet. Members of WikiTree can register here. Non-WikiTreers can sign up here. If you are a blogger and would like to participate, contact [email protected].
WikiTree has been growing since 2008. Community members privately collaborate with close family members on modern family history and publicly collaborate with other genealogists on deep ancestry. Since all the private and public profiles are connected on the same system this process is growing a single family tree that will eventually connect us all and thereby make it free and easy for anyone to discover their roots. See http://www.WikiTree.com.