Family Search has launched an experiemental tool capable of doing a Full Text Search of handwritten documents. The tool uses Aritificial Intelligence to find user supplied key words.
I tried the tool by first going to https://www.familysearch.org/Labs/ and signing in. I then chose Expand your search with Full Text, and clicked on Try It. I then entered my Keyword, (West Brookfield) pressed options, and added a name. (Michael Welch) My results included instances where the words, West, Brookfield, Michael, and Welch were included. I was able to choose a result to view by clicking on it. What I saw was a digital image of the original handwritten document with my search words highlighted, and a printed transcription of the contents of the document powered by AI (artificial intelligence.) The transcription, while not 100 % accurate, was very good.
I highly recommend this tool, both for searching and transcribing document collections. It will save researchers a great deal of time.
