Transcribing and Annotating Collections U of T Images
This page compiles an ongoing list of transcription and annotation tools that can be used with Collections U of T images.
For Collections U of T purposes, we are interested in tools that are designed to work with IIIF and follow the W3C Web Annotation Data Model - coming out of the W3C Open Annotations Community.
Collections U of T does not currently support TEI xml.
Please note: collection owners should only upload final, complete transcriptions into Collections U of T. Transcriptions are displayed publicly and indexed for search. It is possible to reuse Collections U of T objects in course content or transcribe-a-thons - but the resulting text from these should not be ingested into Collections U of T before review by collection owners. Content should be approved for public display and search indexing before being added to Collections U of T.
From The Page
As example, the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library has purchased a From The Page membership account for their transcription work. The profile is available at https://fromthepage.com/utl
Other collection owners are encouraged to assess if From The Page meets their use case and context. From The Page offers trial accounts for testing.
Setting up From The Page
The existing https://fromthepage.com/utl subscription is currently for use by Fisher and UTARMS. If staff from these units would like to set up a new From The Page Collection, consult with the From The Page service manager (Liz Ridolfo on research leave from 2026-2027) or email digitalinitiatives@library.utoronto.ca for support. Note that the UTL From The Page subscription has an upload limit for the number of pages added.
After confirming your new collection with the service manager or through the digitalinitiatives@library.utoronto.ca email, you can create a new From The Page user account. Then, ask the service manager or digitalinitiatives@library.utoronto.ca to set up your new From The Page Collection and add your user account as an owner. After this, you will be able to add items for transcription via the item’s IIIF manifest.
You can read more within the From The Page documentation on User Roles and Adding Staff to From The Page Collections.
Importing Collections U of T IIIF manifests into From The Page for transcription
Note: you can also consult From The Page documentation on Importing via IIIF.
Please also note the following Collections U of T screenshots are outdated and require updating:
1. Navigate to the collection of the object you would like to transcribe - i.e. <https://collections.library.utoronto.ca/view/fisher2:F8597> or find the object you want to add to From The Page and click on it.
2. Click “Share and Reuse”
3. Click “Copy IIIF Manifest”
4. In a new tab, navigate to From The Page
5. Click “Sign In”
6. Once signed in, click “Dashboard” to find the appropriate From The Page collection you want to add the Collections U of T object to.
7. Click on the collection you want to add an object to - in this case, “General Manuscripts”
8. Ensure the object doesn’t already exist in the collection by searching for the title or identifier.
9. If it doesn’t already exist, click “Add a new work” at the bottom of the collection page.
10. Click “Import a IIIF Manifest or Collection”
11. Paste the IIIF Manifest URL into the text box.
12. Click “Import Manifest”
13. And you will see the IIIF manifest imported into From The Page for you to begin transcription! Transcription guideline suggestions can be provided by your supervisor or the department/library/archives who care for the collection.
14. Contact digitalinitiatives@library.utoronto.ca when you are ready to export your From The Page transcriptions for ingest and display into Collections U of T.
Importing Internet Archive IIIF Manifests into From The Page
In addition to Collections U of T IIIF Manifests, you can also use IIIF Manifests hosted by the Internet Archive. See https://iiif.io/guides/guides/archive.org/ for more information.