The U.S. Library of Congress's Music Division is collaborating with the By the People crowdsourced transcription program on a new campaign, "Early American Sheet Music," inviting virtual volunteers to transcribe historical documents. This initiative aims to enhance the accessibility and searchability of early American printed music on loc.gov by enabling page-level keyword search.
The campaign, a contribution to By the People’s America 250 celebration, focuses on over 14,000 pages of sheet music published around the American Revolution. Volunteers will engage with popular and topical pieces, music by notable figures like Francis Johnson and William Billings, European compositions in English, social dance music, and sacred music books.
Transcribers are asked to capture most of the text, excluding musical notation, with specific instruction sheets provided. The project is already nearly one-third complete, and the Library encourages new volunteers to help transcribe and review the remaining two-thirds to make this rich musical history more discoverable online.