Menomonie, Wis. – At University of Wisconsin-Stout Polytechnic’s University Archives and Area
Research Center, thousands of handwritten records, such as genealogical surname cards, court files
and naturalization documents, hold decades of regional history that are effectively locked away in
cursive scripts that make the records difficult to search.
This summer, applied mathematics and computer science senior Jake See began the first phase of a
project – the Automated Handwriting-Transcription Tool – to bring these materials, and the
information they hold, to researchers.
“The archives is exploring how artificial intelligence and other computational tools can support the
work of preserving and providing access to historical records. The handwriting recognition project is
one part of a broader effort to explore how new technical tools can assist archival work. A successful
handwriting recognition system could make historical records faster to process and easier to search
and review,” See said.
During his internship, See applied classroom concepts and independent research toward the real-
world problem of the barriers of manual transcription within archival research, and contributed to
the university archives’ research and innovation goals.
