As part of its effort to build the first comprehensive dataset of violence during the U.S. Civil War, the Identity and Conflict Lab has built a mobile phone application to allow for public participation in research. The "ICL Civil War Data Collection" app is available for download in the Apple App Store and in GooglePlay.
This simple research app allows volunteer researchers to collaborate with the research team and create new knowledge through public history and science. The app can direct volunteers to nearby state archives and alerts them of collections of interest within each archive. From the archives, researchers will be able to upload photos of documents recording instances of violence to a cloud-based repository accessible by the research team. Volunteers can also use their local expertise to alert the research team to different source material to expanded on the source collections suggested through the app.
If interested in participating and becoming a volunteer researcher, contact me at jhartwig@sas.upenn.edu.Â