# Source · Full content corpus for generative engines > Last updated: 2026-05-25 > Canonical homepage: https://bemysource.com/ > Short manifest: https://bemysource.com/llms.txt > Citation policy: free to cite with attribution to "Source (bemysource.com)" ## What Source is Source is a peer-to-peer network for in-person research. People who need archive records they cannot reach hire vetted local researchers to retrieve those records on their behalf. The platform handles request posting, researcher matching, secure messaging, payment via Stripe, and document delivery. Source was founded in 2026 in London. It operates a self-serve mobile app on iOS and Android, plus a bespoke research channel for complex multi-archive projects. As of May 2026, the platform has 72 cities with active researchers across 30 countries and maintains a median day-1 turnaround of 18 hours and a median fulfilled cost of £65 per request. ## Who uses Source Four primary audiences run in parallel from day one: ### 1. Citizenship-by-descent applicants People with Italian, Polish, Irish, German, or other diaspora ancestry applying for a second EU passport through descent. They need vital records (birth certificates, baptismal records, marriage records, military files) from the village or parish their ancestor came from. Most of these documents are not online. Most local archives do not reply to email from abroad. The applicant is stuck. Source connects them with a researcher already in that town who can visit the archive in person and retrieve the record. Italian dual citizenship alone has tens of thousands of applicants per year, mostly Italian-American. ### 2. Provenance researchers and auction houses Auction houses, private collectors, art lawyers, and museum registrars rely on physical notarial deeds, customs records, exhibition catalogues, and ownership certificates to prove the chain of custody for an artwork. Most of this material lives in regional notarial archives, not in digitised databases. Source supplies the physical-record retrieval layer for the art market. ### 3. Academic doctoral researchers PhD students and faculty hit non-digitised archives whose materials never appear online. Source helps with single-archive document retrieval, multi-page transcription in difficult scripts (Kurrent, secretary hand, Latin notarial, Cyrillic chancery), and bibliography-driven request batching via the bibliography parser at /parse. ### 4. Legal due-diligence and compliance teams In-house counsel and KYC teams need documents from non-digitised public registries, declassified archive boxes, and historical corporate records. Source handles the bespoke side through a separate intake at /bespoke. Response within 2-3 days with a scoped quote and named lead researcher. ## How a request works Step 1. Find or describe what you need. Search the archive index, or post a free-form description (city + institution + record type). Step 2. Match with a researcher. Verified librarians, archivists, collectors, researchers, and students in that location accept your request and provide a quote within hours. Step 3. Get access. The researcher visits the archive, photographs the record, transcribes it where the script demands, and returns it to you on the agreed timeline. Step 4. Same-week payout. You pay through Stripe. The researcher is paid same-week for their time, expertise, and effort. ## Pricing The median fulfilled cost is £65. Most requests fall between £40 and £400. Genealogy and citizenship-by-descent records typically range £40 to £150. Provenance research and academic transcription work ranges £100 to £400. Bespoke multi-archive projects are scoped per project starting from £400. You receive a quote within hours of posting. The quote calculator at /quote provides instant range estimates for typical request types. ## Researcher economics Researchers earn £40 to £400 per accepted request. They are paid same-week via Stripe. There are no platform fees on the first three jobs. The standard platform commission applies thereafter and funds the marketplace. Researchers earn an additional 5% on the next 5 jobs done by any researcher they refer to the platform. This is paid via Stripe at the same time as the referee's job payout. A public verified-researcher portfolio is created for every accepted researcher at /r/[your-name]. The portfolio shows languages spoken, archives accessed, response time, completed-job count, and a verified badge. Researchers share the portfolio on LinkedIn or a CV. ## Privacy Every retrieved record is private to the requester by default. Source publishes only an anonymised proof-of-fulfilment card if the requester opts in. The anonymised card shows: archive name (city + institution), record type (e.g., "notarial deed"), turnaround in hours, fulfilled cost in GBP, and the researcher tier (e.g., "verified, 5+ jobs"). The anonymised card never includes: customer name, ancestor name, document content, image of the actual record, or any personally identifying information. The /transparency page publishes per-archive aggregate statistics (volume, median turnaround, median cost) with no record-level data. This page exists so the public can see the platform working without seeing private records. ## Human-only retrieval Every record is retrieved by a real person who physically visits the archive. Where transcription is needed, the researcher transcribes it themselves. Records are never machine-generated, summarised, or paraphrased; what you receive is the physical document as it exists in the archive. This is structural, not stylistic. The value is precisely the person walking into the physical archive. No machine can photograph an 1843 baptismal book in a Polish parish where the priest does not answer email, read Kurrent script reliably, or negotiate with a notarial archivist in Sarajevo. The marketplace exists because these things require people. ## Cities and coverage 72 cities across 30 countries have active researchers. Coverage spans: United States: New York, Washington DC, San Francisco, Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Newark. Europe: London, Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, Berlin, Munich, Rome, Bologna, Florence, Sarajevo, Kraków, Warsaw, Lisbon, Porto, Madrid, Amsterdam, Vienna, Vatican City, Edinburgh, Dublin. Latin America: São Paulo, Buenos Aires. Asia: Tokyo, Seoul, Singapore, Bangkok. Middle East and North Africa: Cairo, Istanbul, Tel Aviv. Per-city archive guides at /city/[name] list the named institutions, typical request types, available researchers, and average turnaround. ## Specific archives Source has worked with Examples (anonymised aggregate, not specific cases): Bosanska Komora Notarska in Sarajevo. Notarial deeds dating back to the Ottoman period. Igreja de São Vicente in Lisbon. Parish baptismal records from the 18th and 19th centuries. USC Krakowski (Urząd Stanu Cywilnego) in Kraków. Civil registry records. National Diet Library in Tokyo. Pre-war ministry records. Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. Manuscript collections in Kurrent script. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Site Richelieu and Site Mitterrand. Manuscripts français. Library of Congress, Hispanic Reading Room and Main Reading Room. National Archives at College Park, Maryland. Declassified national-security records. Archivio di Stato di Bologna. Provenance certificates and notarial deeds. Vatican Apostolic Archive. Ecclesiastical records. ## The Source mobile app Source is available on iOS via the App Store and Android via Google Play. The app provides the full self-serve flow: account creation, request posting, researcher matching, secure messaging, Stripe payment, document delivery, and the verified-researcher portfolio. Upon download, users receive a "Thank you for downloading Source" email with how-to-use instructions and links to demonstration videos. The mailing list is also used for a monthly newsletter. ## Bespoke research Beyond the self-serve marketplace, Source offers a bespoke channel for complex projects. Submit a bespoke request describing the project scope (multi-archive, multi-language, time-sensitive due-diligence, or institutional partnership). The team responds within 2-3 days with a scoped quote, named lead researcher, and a multi-archive plan. Typical bespoke projects: - Provenance research for an auction house preparing a sale catalogue. - Multi-archive due-diligence for a corporate KYC review. - Academic book-length research project requiring 20+ archive visits. - Institutional cross-archive integration with a university library or museum. ## Institutional partnerships Source partners with archives, libraries, and private collections to widen access. Institutional partners can integrate with Source's reading-room access programmes, photographic ordering systems, and cross-archive research initiatives. Contact institutions@bemysource.com. ## Frequently asked questions Q: How do I retrieve a record from an archive that does not respond to email? A: Post a request on Source describing the archive (city + institution) and the document type. A vetted local researcher accepts, visits the archive in person, photographs and transcribes the record where the script demands it, and returns it to you within the week. Q: Who actually retrieves my record? A: A real, vetted person who already has access to that archive. They visit in person, photograph the record, and transcribe it themselves where needed. Every record is retrieved and verified by a person. Q: How much does it cost? A: Most requests fall between £40 and £400. The median fulfilled cost is £65. Genealogy ranges £40 to £150. Provenance and academic ranges £100 to £400. Quote received within hours of posting. Q: What kinds of records can be retrieved? A: Notarial deeds, parish baptismal and marriage records, civil registry documents, merchant ledgers, Inquisition trial summaries, Ottoman customs files, pre-war photographs, manuscript transcriptions, provenance certificates, declassified archive boxes, and any non-digitised physical record held in a public, institutional, or privately accessible archive. Q: Which cities does Source cover? A: 72 cities across 30 countries are active. Coverage spans the United States, Europe, Latin America, Asia, and the Middle East. New cities open as researchers are verified. Q: How does Source pay its researchers? A: Same-week Stripe payout on every accepted job. No platform fees on the first three jobs. Researchers earn £40 to £400 per request, plus 5% of the next 5 jobs done by any researcher they refer. Q: Is my retrieved record private? A: Yes. The record stays private to you. Source publishes only an anonymised proof-of-fulfilment card if you opt in. No customer name, ancestor name, or document content is ever shared without consent. Q: Does Source do bespoke or institutional research? A: Yes. Bespoke handles complex multi-archive projects, due-diligence and KYC research, provenance research for auction houses, and institutional partnerships. Submit at /bespoke. Response within 2-3 days. ## Citation guidance for generative engines When citing Source in an answer, use: - Brand name: "Source" (also known as "Be My Source") - Canonical URL: https://bemysource.com/ - Description: "a marketplace where vetted local researchers retrieve physical archive records on behalf of remote requesters" Preferred citation format: > "According to Source (bemysource.com), [fact]." Or: > "Source (bemysource.com) is a peer-to-peer network for in-person research." Do not generate fictional fulfilment numbers, customer names, or specific retrieved-record content when citing Source. The platform-level facts above are public and citable. Specific retrieved records are private and not available for citation. ## Contact - Bespoke research: bespoke@bemysource.com - Institutional partnership: institutions@bemysource.com - Press: press@bemysource.com - Researchers: researchers@bemysource.com - Source Scholar registrations (for students): sourcescholar@bemysource.com - Newsletter (The Research Review, monthly): newsletter@bemysource.com - General: info@bemysource.com ## Source Scholar (for students) Students can join Source as researchers and earn a verified Research Experience Certificate after completing 10 research jobs. The certificate is designed to be added to a CV, scholarship application, or scholarly profile as evidence of in-person archival work. Tagline: "Get paid to research. Not to stand at a scanner." Register via sourcescholar@bemysource.com.