Correspondent photo / Nancilynn Gatta Mackenzi Bacorn of Cortland, left, looks at a document that her aunt, Judi Brozovich of Sharpsville, Pa. is transcribing to help her decipher a phrase during the Trumbull County Historical Society’s “Transcribing History” event Friday at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library. Another session is planned June 13.

WARREN — Despite elaborate cursive writing being in English, it’s not easily understood for a modern person who’s used to reading information online.

So, on Friday, the Trumbull County Historical Society hosted a “Transcribing History” event at the Warren-Trumbull County Public Library.

“We have over 19,000 items in our collection,” said Savannah Moss, TCHS Collections and Research Manager. “This helps us to digitize the writings in our collection.”

Approximately, two dozen volunteers read photocopied pages and then wrote in print on a separate page what the document said. From there, TCHS staff will scan or type in the transcription so it is available on their website.

“I came with my Aunt Judi,” said Mackenzi Bacorn of Cortland about Judi Brozovich of Sharpsville, Pa. Both thought this event sounded interesting. They participated in the first transcription event in November and returned for Friday’s session.

Janice Budd-Fentress, who recently returned with her husband to the area to live in the family home in Liberty, said she decided to come to the transcribing event because of always having an interest in history, noting she has completed some of her family history.

TCHS staff gave directions to help with the accuracy of the transcriptions such as preserving the original text spelling, grammar, word order, page numbers and catalog letters or numbers. The nonprofit also gave tips on how to deal with misspellings and words they could not read because of the age of the document, writing style and faded material.

Sometimes, a fellow transcriber helped.

Carol Hawkins of Howland showed her tablemate, Mary Lu Rosier of Warren, the document from a signature book that she transcribed. Even with a photocopy, some of the handwriting from the document, dated from the 19th century, faded. But, the two women were determined to decipher the page.

“We have deeds, diaries, and personal letters in our collection that need transcribed, but the items we brought today were from the general collection,” Moss said.

Because she enjoyed the work so much, Budd-Fentress asked to take “homework” home and continue transcribing documents.

“We have a dedicated group of transcription volunteers who come to the office on Wednesdays and Thursdays, but the first transcription event was so successful last November we had this one and there will be another one this year,” Moss said.

The next transcription event is June 13 at the Warren Trumbull County Public Library. For more information, contact the Trumbull County Historical Society at 330-394-4653 , email the nonprofit at info@trumbullcountyhistory.org or visit its website at www.trumbullcountyhistory.org.