Accessible archives with AI and Citizen science

Karl-Magnus Johansson, The National Archives of Sweden Open Science in the Swedish Context, May 7^th 2026

Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR)

Supervised machine learning for automatic transcription of handwritten text from image to text data

Gothenburg Police, Detective Section

Police reports (1868–1902) and telegram messages (1865–1903)

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Appr. 25 000 pages

46 bound volumes

A project in collaboration with GPS400: Center for collaborative visual research, University of Gothenburg

Photo: Axel Leonard Svensson, 1901

(Lena Carlssons bildarkiv, The Swedish National Archives, Gothenburg)

Photo: Axel Leonard Svensson, 1900

(Lena Carlssons bildarkiv, The Swedish National Archives, Gothenburg)

Hungerkravallerna

Hungerkravallerna

Studying the epistemic culture that developed in the project

• Kasperowski, D, Johansson, K-M & Karsvall, O. ”Temporalities and Values in an Epistemic Culture: Citizen Humanities, Local Knowledge and AI-supported Transcription of Archives”, Archives & Manuscripts 2023:2
• Kasperowski, D & Johansson, K-M. ”Kulturarvspedagogik genom AI, arkiv och medborgarforskning”, in J. Håkansson et al (red.) Kulturarv som politik och pedagogik, 2025
• Kasperowski, D & Johansson, K-M. ”Participants Learning and Open Archives through AI and Citizen Humanities”, Citizen Science: Theory and Practice (coming, 2026)

How do volunteers value their participation?

• to contribute for a greater cause
• the (local) historical material
• multifaceted learning

"The public will benefit greatly from this in the future. Those who are not so used to studying old archives will have a much easier time accessing the material.“

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”I am learning so much. I had no idea about some local historical details but the project has given me new perspectives on it. When I am out walking with friends I usually tell them about cases that have taken place in different places we visit. I have almost like guided tours.”

“I tell all my friends: 'I'm doing something really fun', and they get so jealous of me, especially during Covid.”

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“Projects like this show just how incredibly much there is to discover [in the archives], so many different topics and so on. The project points you in a direction, and you get some free knowledge, and then you contribute, and you learn […] What I like is that – you might already have an interest, and then you get nudged, and suddenly it becomes interesting, or maybe at first you think “oh well,” but the more you learn, the more interesting it gets!

Citizen Science is based on relationships and mutual trust

Glöckner, Murre

Thank you for listening!

Contact: karl-magnus.johansson@riksarkivet.se