# Want to help decipher John Muir's journals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 11, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556 "2015-01-11T17:46:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556/1 "2015-01-11T17:46:18Z")
The University of the Pacific is crowdsourcing the deciphering of John Muir’s field journals. The story is at our local paper, [here](http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150111/News/150119964), along with instructions on how to work the UOP Muir website. From the article, Muir would take a journal book on his journeys and: > [@](#): > > “. . . Muir wrote into the margins and up the sides of the pages. The pencil marks smeared as each journal jostled about in his pocket.” If you’re interested, check it out. I’m not going to get to it today, so I’m posting this to keep from forgetting it. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556/2 "2015-01-11T18:39:26Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > I’m not going to get to it today, so I’m posting this to keep from forgetting it. The Dope as PDA; I guess we all do it. 🙂 Sounds like a fascinating project, though. I have some experience in trying to read manuscript documents (a number from a Victorian hyperpolygot with microscopic handwriting - you can’t even count on English context to help out). ---
**Author:** ![DingoelGringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9d8465/32.png) [@DingoelGringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DingoelGringo)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556/3 "2015-01-11T18:52:51Z")
Hoe much does it pay? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556/4 "2015-01-11T19:00:10Z")
What a cool project! I’ll take a look into it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556/5 "2015-01-11T22:09:41Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > The University of the Pacific is crowdsourcing the deciphering of John Muir’s field journals. The story is at our local paper, [here](http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150111/News/150119964), along with instructions on how to work the UOP Muir website. Was this the true origin of the Voynich manuscript? ETA: Oh, I know! It’s where all those undecipherable recaptchas come from! ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2015, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556/6 "2015-01-11T23:13:40Z")
> [@Yllaria](#): > > The University of the Pacific is crowdsourcing the deciphering of John Muir’s field journals. The story is at our local paper, [here](http://www.recordnet.com/article/20150111/News/150119964), along with instructions on how to work the UOP Muir website. > > From the article, Muir would take a journal book on his journeys and: If you’re interested, check it out. > > I’m not going to get to it today, so I’m posting this to keep from forgetting it. Pretty cool. That’s how the LDS gets the US Census sheets transcribed to a legible database. I worked on that one for 1940 and quite often the sheets were nearly illegible. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2015, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-to-help-decipher-john-muirs-journals/709556/7 "2015-01-12T22:18:36Z")
> [@DingoelGringo](#): > > Hoe much does it pay? You may get a nice, warm feeling, but they don’t guarantee it. > [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > . . . I have some experience in trying to read manuscript documents (a number from a Victorian hyperpolygot with microscopic handwriting - you can’t even count on English context to help out). That sounds very interesting. My youngest gave me some experience deciphering handwriting. I wouldn’t have thought so if I hadn’t later done some temping, grading standardized tests with essay portions. I could usually puzzle out things that stumped most of the other graders. Still haven’t signed up at UOP. Sigh.