READ-COOP SCE — European Cooperative

Become a member & co-owner of Transkribus

Join a community of 250+ institutions and individuals working together to unlock the written past. Get full platform access, voting rights, and exclusive benefits.

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Join our co-owners

Universities, archives, libraries, and individuals from around the world

Member Benefits

As a cooperative member you become a co-owner of Transkribus. Beyond platform access, membership includes the following.

Full platform access

All Transkribus features and tools, without restrictions.

10% discount on purchases

Applies to credits, subscriptions, and all other services.

Voting rights

Vote at the Annual General Meeting on strategy and policies.

Community participation

Contribute ideas and collaborate on platform development.

Direct updates from the team

Roadmap previews, news, and transparent communication from management.

Member events

User Conference, Monthly Members Meetings, and webinars.

How It Works

Select Share Quantity

Determine the number of shares to buy: 1 share (250 €) for individuals or 4 to 20 shares (1,000–5,000 €) for institutions.

Submit Application

Choose your membership type below and click “Become a member” to start the application process on our platform.

Approval & Benefits

Once the board approves your application, you’ll be a member enjoying all benefits. The annual membership fee is 25% of your shares’ total price.

Membership Plans

Choose your membership type and select the number of shares

2,000 €8 shares · one-time purchase

+ 500 € annual membership fee

Select number of shares

✓ Up to 5 votes at the Annual General Assembly
✓ All Transkribus features
✓ 10% discount on all purchases
✓ 1,000 credits welcome bonus
✓ 15 user seats
✓ Buyer accounts for your team
✓ Dedicated Success Liaison
✓ Co-own Transkribus

Become a member

Membership Details

	Individual	Institutional
Price per share	250 €	250 €
Number of shares	1	8
Max votes	1	2
Annual membership fee	62.50 €	500 €
One-time credits	500	1,000
Transkribus Sites pages	1,000	1,000
User seats	1	15
Buyer accounts	—	✓
Discount on purchases	10%	10%
Customer support	Members Liaison	Success Liaison

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about joining the cooperative

What does it mean to be a member of the read-coop?

Being a member of read-coop means joining a community with the shared goal of making historical documents accessible. As a co-operative, all members become co-owners of Transkribus, a platform that is revolutionising text recognition for historical documents.

Can members earn profits from read-coop?

No, members do not earn profits. Instead, their contribution is focused on building the most significant platform for recognizing historical text, handwritten, typewritten or printed. The goal is not to earn profits to be distributed to shareholders but to facilitate collaborative efforts in unlocking our written past.

How does read-coop function?

read-coop operates with a joint purpose, relying on the collaborative efforts of its members to maintain and further develop the Transkribus software. By prioritising purpose over profit, the co-operative ensures the best tools are provided while allowing everyone to contribute to and benefit from the value chain.

What are the requirements and fees for becoming a member?

The requirements and fees for becoming a member depend on the type of membership:

For institutions: Membership requires the purchase of at least 4 shares at 250.00 EUR each, totaling a minimum of 1,000.00 EUR. Additionally, there is an annual fee of 25% of the share purchase price, which amounts to 250.00 EUR annually. In summary, the initial membership investment is 1,250 EUR.

For private individuals: Membership requires the purchase of 1 share at 250.00 EUR. Additionally, there is an annual fee of 25% of the share purchase price, amounting to a minimum payment of 62.50 EUR. In summary, the initial membership investment is 312.50 EUR.

Can institutional membership be invoiced?

No, the institutional membership cannot be invoiced as it is not considered a product or service in the legal sense. Instead, it is a contribution towards becoming a stakeholder in the cooperative. For accounting and legal reasons, we are unable to provide an invoice specifically for the membership. However, we can issue payment requests so that the organisation can process the payment for the shares, and your organisation's administration can use the payment request for its records.

Is the share amount refundable?

Yes, the share amount is refundable. The minimum refundable amount is 1,000 EUR for institutional members and 250 EUR for private members. If you decide to discontinue your membership in the future, the refundable amount will be returned to you.

What is the distinction between user seats and member associates in the context of institutional memberships?

In the context of institutional memberships at read-coop, there are two types of access: user seats and member associates. User seats, which can be assigned in the software, grant access to Transkribus features and are limited to 15 individuals from the organization. Member associates, on the other hand, are added through the website and have various privileges, such as making purchases at membership rates, enjoying membership discounts, receiving invitations to events organized by read-coop, accessing privileged information, and joining the readcoop Slack channel.

Is the buying account for a membership relevant to all members of the institution?

No, the buying account for membership is only relevant for administrative purposes, such as payment, allocation of member seats. Multiple users of the institution can enjoy the benefits of becoming co-owners of our cooperative, including discounts and access to exclusive features using their own user accounts.

How can credits/seats be distributed among users/researchers in my institution?

Credits and subscription plans can be purchased using a central account and then distributed among users/researchers within your institution. For detailed instructions on how to share credits and allocate subscription seats to different users, please refer to our Help Centre.

Need something bigger?

The Epic Members' League is our premium programme for institutions with large-scale digitisation needs, offering on-premises deployment, dedicated support, and custom AI model training.

Become a member & co-owner of Transkribus

Join our co-owners

Stad Leuven

Adam Sofronijevic

Gothenburg University

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Canadian Research Knowledge Network

Corporation for Digital Scholarship

The National Archives

Andy Stauder