Have you ever noticed that the historic photo on the WSGS website home page is from the Digital Archives? We are so lucky in Washington State to have free, unfettered public access to the award-winning Digital Archives. Photographs are available for your society’s newsletter — always free access to use (with proper credit, of course). Or if you’re looking for genealogical records of your Washington State ancestors — they’re a Search Box away.

Regularly named one of the best websites for genealogy, the Washington State Archives’ Digital Archives was the nation’s first archive dedicated specifically to the “preservation of electronic records from both state and local agencies that have permanent legal, fiscal or historical value.”

The Washington State Genealogical Society and its members would like to show our appreciation for this invaluable resource by increasing the transcribed records to be made available online. Beginning October 1, we are encouraging all WSGS members and Blog readers to use the Archives’ online transcription application “Scribe” to transcribe as many records as possible. Use this link to create an account.

Sign up today. Practice transcribing a few records (there’s a very good user’s guide to help you get started). Let’s show our appreciation to the Digital Archives for their commitment to making historical records available to all of us.