DATA ENTRY VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR
MASTER INDEX OF BAHA'I WRITINGS
As you may know, the Baha'i
inspired Foundation for the Investigation of Reality (FIR) has been given custody
of a unique conceptual index of the Baha'i Writings known officially as the
Master Index, and informally as The Worlds of God Index (WOGI), on the
condition that it be preserved and computerized for the National Spiritual
Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States.
In a letter to us, the
National Assembly had written: "The National Assembly feels that the
information compiled in Worlds of God Index is valuable and agrees that the
data should be stored in computer files....The National Spiritual Assembly
appreciates the amount of work that has gone into assembling the Worlds of God
Index over the years and admires the efforts of the many dedicated individuals
who have been involved in its collection. We commend your desire to continue
working with the Index, thereby rendering a distinctive service to the Cause of
God."
Up until recently we have
mailing out photocopies of the original cards to the volunteers to enter data
via the web, but we have since enlisted the help of a computer science company
in Florida (whose owner is a Baha’i) to scan the cards, such that the data
entry people can type the contents of the scanned card which appears on the
screen while they transcribe the information into an online form. This is still being set up, but we anticipate
this process to be working soon, at which point we will need data entry people
to assist us.
If we can get just 200 people
entering 10 cards a day, the Index will be computerized in 5 months. If you or someone you know has Internet
access, it is easy to do.
Please call or
e-mail Michael Kafes with your questions or to get started.
Thanks for your assistance!
Sincerely yours,
P.S. If you would like to see
the old indexing instructions for an idea of what is involved, click here:
http://www.investigatereality.org/wogi/dataentry.htm