Lincoln Library lets public transcribe documents

SPRINGFIELD - The Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum has a new project that asks the public to help transcribe 30,000 pages of documents written during the Civil War.

Library officials said Thursday that they've set up a website where volunteers can log in and see the papers of Richard Yates Sr. He was governor of Illinois during the Civil War. Visitors can set up an account, read a document and type the text into a box at the bottom on the webpage. When they're finished the document is saved and put in a file for other volunteers to review.

The goal is to make the historical records available for researchers worldwide.

Yates had correspondence with prominent individuals including President Lincoln, Gen. Ulysses S. Grant and Gen. William T. Sherman.