To join the project as a transcriber, first check the Transcription Assignments to see if the State, County, and Year of your interest is available for assignment. Depending on the census year and your operating system, (i.e. Windows, Mac or UNIX) we will provide you with a database program called CART (Census Abstract Retrieval Tool), or a spreadsheet template. The USGenWeb Census Project also provides Transcribing Help FAQ's.

You must obtain access to Copies of the Census that you have chosen to transcribe. The assignment web pages link to some free online census images that could be used for transcription purposes, but the Census Project itself does not provide the original census material to be transcribed.

All transcriptions need to be proofread. You can volunteer to proofread a transcription by going to the Proofreader Exchange, filling out the form, and noting in the comments the censuses in which you are interested. Each transcriber must Find a Proofreader.