Professional Specialists Contributing Their Expertise to Breakthrough Research
At Secrets of the Cipher, we believe the best discoveries come from collaboration. That's why we've built a team of member experts who contribute their professional skills to verify discoveries, research historical context, and advance our understanding.
When a member discovers an annotation, our member paleographers verify it. When we need historical context, our member historians research it. When we need enhanced images, our member specialists process them.
Everyone contributes. Everyone gets credit. Everyone makes history together.
Verify and transcribe historical annotations
Research historical context and connections
Enhance and process manuscript images
Analyze patterns and build research tools
Trace families and verify identities
Communicate discoveries to the world
From discovery to publication, every step is collaborative
A member examining manuscript folios finds what appears to be an annotation. They take a screenshot and describe what they see.
The discovery is submitted through our verification form with images, location details, and preliminary transcription attempt.
Available member paleographers or specialists review the queue and claim verification tasks based on their expertise.
The expert examines high-resolution images, analyzes script characteristics, attempts transcription, and dates the writing style.
If needed, member historians research names, dates, and locations mentioned in the annotation to provide context.
A comprehensive report is written detailing the findings, transcription, dating, confidence level, and significance.
The verified discovery is published with full credit to both the discoverer and all verifying experts. Everyone's contribution is recognized.
The entire community celebrates the discovery together. Academic papers include all contributors as co-authors.
We're currently recruiting our first member experts! The profiles below show what our expert team section will look like once our specialists are onboard.
Want to be one of our founding experts?
Apply below and help verify breakthrough discoveries like the f1r "1622 Alice At Land" annotation!
Specialist in Secretary Hand and Tudor-era manuscripts
Expert in Tudor Essex and Cooke family history
Professional photographer and digital restoration expert
Be part of breakthrough research. Verify the discoveries that solve 113-year mysteries. Get co-authorship credit on academic publications. Make history with us.
Apply to Become a Member Expert✉️ Email us with your qualifications, CV/resume, and area of expertise