Sourcery History: how Sourcery is reimagining remote research

A problem researchers often face is wanting to track down a citation or consult a distant archival collection that just may be the linchpin for their argument. But if they aren’t able to travel to the archive, what can they do? Simple scans of archival materials are hard to get from a distance if institutions don’t offer them or have prioritized other work. Even alternative solutions, like locating and hiring a research assistant, or arranging and paying for a research trip, require a personal network and a lot of time and effort. Surely there must be a way to tap into the community of local archive users who could just get it for you.

The Sourcery team began our work in January 2020 to solve this exact problem by creating a new solution for Researchers to get easier access to far away archival materials. Sourcery’s guiding purpose is to streamline the request process, strengthen remote research networks, and expand research opportunities. We realized that to do so would require a full redesign of remote research methods.

In order to reimagine remote research, the Sourcery team and collaborators designed a “peer-to-peer” structure facilitated by a digital application, wherein the Researcher would place the request directly into the Sourcery app, and a local archive user would pick up the job and deliver the scans. This model serves the Researcher by creating an easier, cheaper, and more consistent method for getting their scans. It also serves local archives users by providing them with an opportunity to earn extra income (read our Pricing blog post for more information about pricing and payments). At the same time, it helps preserve archivist staff time to focus on specialized archival work, rather than delivering simple scans.

This solution also introduces a new method and a faster pace for conducting research. With Sourcery, you advance your research by gathering sources anytime, not just on extended breaks or when you are able to physically go to an archive. You can request the documents as soon as you realize you need them, so you have them when you have time to analyze them.

in March 2020, when archive users were stuck at home during the pandemic, we had to pivot our work. We took that time to focus on better understanding the needs of archivists and to design a set of features for their use (look forward to seeing this back in the app in 2026). We prototyped a streamlined workflow that offered direct communication, tracked resources, usage analytics, and more.

As researchers and archivists resumed their work post-pandemic, it was clear that institutions were stretched even thinner than before, with fewer resources and higher expectations from Researchers for archival scans. While Sourcery offered a myriad of improvements to the direct Researcher-Institution request and fulfillment process, it still wasn’t able to solve the key problem: Scarcity of institutional resources. With further confirmation that it’s not possible, or even fair, to expect institutions to cover the document scanning requests of every distant researcher, we returned to the peer-to-peer model.

Designing and implementing Sourcery to support the peer-to-peer network was an exciting process full of research, building, and testing. This past summer we facilitated 3 rounds of beta testing in Boston and New York City with 15 total participants. We were able to learn from Researchers and Soucerers alike their hopes for how Sourcery can serve their professional communities and facilitate their respective work. The peer-to-peer Sourcery app was released on September 4, 2025.

Since launch, we’ve continued to beta test with Researchers and with Sourcerers in Washington, DC. We’re working to further develop new features for the Sourcery app, offer more request types, and expand into more cities. We’re also developing institutional accounts for another round of beta testing in Spring 2026.

We’re excited to continue working on Sourcery and are open to hearing your thoughts, ideas, and suggestions for how we can improve. Read our FAQs for answers to common questions, post a topic or issue in our forums, or shoot us an email at info@sourceryapp.org to start a conversation.