Transcribing a Snapshot in TimeArticle | Updated 6 years ago Caption: Anne Gunson working from her computer desk. Credit: WA Museum The Museum's Library is celebrating another milestone. Starting in 2005, Anne Gunson is our most senior volunteer. Recently she completed the monumental task of cataloguing and transcribing David Ride’s 42 field notebooks. David Ride was the Director of the Western Australian Museum from 1952-74. His travels throughout WA during his time with the Museum were extensive and his collection of specimens remains remarkable. Transcribing his field notebooks was an exacting task. Reading the notes, which were often written while travelling, made them difficult to transcribe. The value of the records is in the detail consisting of geographical, geological, zoological, and biological information. There are detailed instructions for locations long since lost in the collective social consciousness. For these locations, Anne consulted the collection of atlases held by the Museum Library and their extensive collection of books related to the specimen types. These notebooks represent a detailed snapshot in time for those who might be chasing a zoological specimen or searching for once-recorded but now extinct animals. The records are sprinkled liberally with items in brackets denoting the non-exact nature of the transcription. Much is an educated guess based on Anne’s familiarity with the author’s handwriting and the author’s extensive knowledge of his subject matter. The transcribed notebooks are not only of value to researchers at our Museum when registering new specimens, they are also valuable to researchers from all over the world for specimen location information. More information on these journals can be found by searching libary.museum.wa.gov.au Caption: Anne Gunson working from her computer desk. Credit: WA Museum If you are interested to learn more about our volunteering opportunities, visit our volunteering page.