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Volunteer Field Capture

The Field Capture app lets volunteers photograph and record items on-site with their mobile device, even when offline. Designed for community archives, volunteer scanning days, and distributed collection events.

Available on Professional plans and above. Requires the Volunteer role or higher.

What it is​

Field Capture is a Progressive Web App (PWA) that runs in your mobile browser. It works offline, stores captures locally, and syncs automatically when you're back online. Volunteers can:

  • Photograph items with their phone camera
  • Record audio notes describing the item
  • Add metadata — titles, dates, descriptions, donor details
  • Capture consent — checkbox confirming permission to digitise
  • Tag location — optional geolocation for where the item was captured

Everything stays on the volunteer's device until they tap Sync. No uploads happen without an internet connection.

Accessing Field Capture​

  1. On your mobile device, open your browser and navigate to app.archivers.ai/capture.
  2. Sign in with your volunteer or archivist account.
  3. When prompted, tap Add to Home Screen to install the app.

The app icon appears on your home screen. Launch it like any native app — it works offline from that point forward.

Creating a new accession​

Field Capture works with accessions — a single batch of items captured in one session (e.g. "Smith family photos — 2026 donation", "Village Hall records — May scanning day").

Option 1: Voice-assisted accession​

The fastest way for volunteers unfamiliar with archival terminology:

  1. Tap New Accession.
  2. Tap the microphone icon to record a voice note.
  3. Answer the five prompts that appear on screen:
    • What's in it?
    • Where is it from?
    • What dates does it cover?
    • Who donated it or where did it come from?
    • Anything else?
  4. Tap Stop when done (max 90 seconds).
  5. The platform transcribes your audio and pre-fills the form fields with suggested values.
  6. Review and edit the suggestions, then tap Create Accession.

The audio is used for data entry only and is not retained.

Option 2: Typed entry​

For volunteers who prefer typing:

  1. Tap New Accession.
  2. Fill in:
    • Title — short name for this batch (required)
    • Description — what the materials are and where they came from
    • Date range — approximate dates covered
    • Donor / source — who provided the material
  3. Tap Create Accession.

Capturing items​

Once you've created an accession, you're in the capture screen:

Taking photos​

  1. Tap the camera button.
  2. Take a photo of the item (document, photograph, artefact).
  3. The capture appears as a thumbnail in the grid.
  4. Repeat for as many items as you have in this batch.

Multi-page documents: Take one photo per page. The platform will merge them into a single document record when you sync.

Recording audio​

  1. Tap the microphone button.
  2. Record an oral history, interview, or audio note about an item.
  3. Tap Stop when done.

Audio captures appear in the grid with a waveform icon.

Adding metadata​

Tap any thumbnail to open the metadata panel:

  • Title — short descriptive title
  • Description — what the item is, who's in it, or what it contains
  • Date — approximate date or date range
  • Donor note — any context the donor provided
  • Consent recorded — tick this checkbox to confirm you have permission to digitise this item. Required before sync.

Changes save automatically.

Offline mode​

The app caches everything locally in your browser's storage. When you're offline:

  • Captures still work — photos and audio are stored on your device
  • Sync button is disabled — you'll see "Offline" in the header
  • Metadata edits save locally — they'll sync when you reconnect

When you're back online, the Sync button turns green. Tap it to upload.

Syncing​

When you're ready to upload:

  1. Connect to Wi-Fi or mobile data.
  2. Tap Sync All at the bottom of the screen.
  3. The app uploads each capture in order. You'll see progress indicators.
  4. Once synced, captures are marked with a green checkmark.

Synced captures are removed from your device's local storage. If you need to keep them, export them first (see below).

What happens on the server:

  • Each capture becomes a file in the accession.
  • Metadata you entered in the field is attached to the file.
  • The accession appears in the archivist's Dashboard → Accessions list, ready for review.
  • AI processing is triggered automatically (if quota permits).

Review workflow for archivists​

Volunteer captures appear on the Dashboard in a dedicated Volunteer captures awaiting review panel. Click through to the accession to:

  • Review the photos and metadata
  • Run OCR or transcription on items that need it
  • Assign the accession to a fond
  • Export when ready

Volunteers see only the accessions they've created. Archivists see all accessions across the organisation.

Every capture must have consent recorded ticked before it can sync. This confirms the volunteer has obtained permission from the donor, property owner, or rights holder to digitise the material.

The platform records:

  • Who captured it — the volunteer's name
  • When it was captured — timestamp
  • Device label — e.g. "Jane's iPhone" (set in the app's settings)
  • Geolocation — optional; if enabled, records where the photo was taken

This provenance trail appears in the item's metadata and is included in exports.

Deleting local captures​

To remove captures from your device without syncing them:

  1. Swipe left on a thumbnail (iOS) or long-press (Android).
  2. Tap Delete.
  3. Confirm.

This is useful if you accidentally photographed the wrong item.

Limitations​

  • No video capture (yet) — use your phone's native camera app and upload videos separately via the desktop interface.
  • No editing after sync — once a capture is synced, you must edit it in the main app.
  • Consent is per-item — you can't bulk-apply consent to all captures. This is intentional — each item requires explicit permission.

Troubleshooting​

"Sync failed" error

  • Check your internet connection
  • Ensure you're signed in (the app prompts you to re-authenticate if your session expired)
  • Try syncing one item at a time by tapping the ↑ icon on individual thumbnails

"Storage full" warning

  • You've hit your browser's storage limit (typically 50-500 MB depending on device/browser)
  • Sync to clear space, or delete unneeded captures

Photos are rotated incorrectly

  • This is a device orientation issue. Rotate your device before taking the photo, or edit the rotation in the desktop app after sync.

See also​