Text correct newspapers in Trove

The National Library and all of the State and Territory libraries across Australia have been digitising newspapers and making them accessible on Trove. There are now 10 million newspaper pages available online. The digitised newspapers are transcribed electronically, however this process isn't 100% accurate due to the quality of the original newspapers or small text size. There's nothing as accurate as the human eye, so we need your help to correct them. By helping to fix the text of the newspaper, it's easier to search and a better resource for everyone!

You don't need to create an account to get started, but it's much easier if you do. Create an account or login to Trove. It's easy and only takes a minute.

Tips and tricks:
There are lots of excellent tips for text correcting newspapers on Trove that will help you out.

Get text correcting:
Choose one of the assignments below to get text correcting in Trove - all 1915 issues of The Queenslander newspaper or correcting a newspaper article published on your birthday.

The Queenslander newspaper 1915

Beginning in 2014, nations across the world will be remembering the lives of those who lived, fought and died in the First World War. Help State Library of Queensland and discover more about the lives of Queenslanders a century ago by text correcting articles in The Queenslander newspaper from 1915. Text correcting is easy and it helps researchers, family members and anyone interested in history to locate and tell stories from that time.

Women and their experiences

We've found ten articles that reflect the experience of women during 1915 for Pitch In! volunteers to correct. They are a fascinating look into women's lives at the time - at home and at work.

Start here: Scroll through this list of articles in Trove and choose articles you'd like to correct.

Difficulty: Beginner

Stories on the home front

These articles show various aspects of life in Australia during 1915; the cost of living, indigenous military training and war precautions.

Start here: Scroll through the list and choose articles you'd like to correct.

Difficulty: Beginner

Stories from the front line

Text-correct these articles about life in the trenches, Egypt, caring for the wounded in London and a 19 year old soldier - all from The Queenslander 1915.

Start here: Scroll through the list and choose articles you'd like to correct.

Difficulty: Beginner

War Horses

Many horses were sold and shipped off with soldiers to support the war efforts. Sadly, the majority perished and never returned home. Read some of the local stories about our Queensland war horses.

Start here: Scroll through the list and choose articles you'd like to correct.

Difficulty: Beginner

The conscription debate 1915-1918

Conscription became a contentious issue during WW1. These articles span the the various debates for and against the compulsory drafting of soldiers.

Start here: Scroll through the list and choose articles you'd like to correct.

Difficulty: Beginner

Text correct an article written on your birthday in a Queensland newspaper

Ever wondered what was happening on your birthday during the 1930s, 40s or 50s? Transport yourself back in time and select a newspaper that corresponds with your birth date. Some old newspapers were issued weekly so you might need to take the date nearest to your birthday. Many old newspapers also had advertising on the first few pages so if you'd like a news article to correct – look further into the paper.

Step 1: Go to the Queensland newspapers section in Trove.

Step 2: Select a newspaper you'd like to search (this could be from your home town) and find an issue by choosing the year, the month and the day to find your birth date. Click on your birthday or closest issue date.

Step 4: Browse through and find an article you'd like to correct.

Difficulty: More experienced

Tell us what you've been working on

We'd like to hear all about your discoveries and hard work. We want to celebrate with you!

• Email us at discovery@slq.qld.gov.au
• Share on SLQ's Facebook page
• Start a conversation on Twitter by using this hashtag: #pitchinslq
• Trove also has a text corrector hall of fame. Join the team! http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/hallOfFame