Welcome to Lagervall's Text Service!
About the company
Lagervall's Text Service is a small company based in Gothenburg, Sweden, focused on helping small businesses and individuals with proofreading, language review, transcription of handwritten texts, and advice and assistance in various archival matters, as well as support with genealogical research and some other things.
The company works primarily with Swedish texts, and therefore most information on this website is in Swedish. Below you can find short information in English about the services provided. If you are interested in my services, you are welcome to contact me via email or use the form on the contact page to get in touch.
Background, education, and skills
My primary education is a PhD in Scandinavian Languages, focused on grammar history, and many years of work at the University of Gothenburg in various positions. I also have an education of 60 higher education credits (approximately 1.5 years of full-time study) to become an archivist, several university courses in Palaeography (transcription of older handwritten texts), and have done genealogical research for over thirty years. The pages with my merits and publications are so far only in Swedish, but if you know enough or can use Google Translate to help you, you can find them here: My merits and My publications.
Proofreading & language review
I offer help with writing and reviewing primarily Swedish texts of all kinds, for example, articles, essays, presentations, web pages, newsletters, and books. If you are learning Swedish and need help with your Swedish texts, I am happy to help you. As for texts in English, I do not feel confident enough to offer in-depth language review, and therefore, I don't market my services for English texts. However, if you need help with proofreading or reviewing simpler texts, I am happy to help.
The cost of helping you with your texts depends on the length and character of the text, on the number of issues that need improving, and on how thorough you want me to be. It is therefore not possible to say how long the work would take in advance, but after seeing your text, I can give you an estimate. I also want to publish earlier works on this page as references in the future. If you agree to let me use your text as a reference, I can give you a discount. Write to textservice[at]lagervall[dot]se and ask me about it.
Working with AI
"Isn't AI good enough for doing the work by itself nowadays?" I would say both yes and no to that. It will probably work well for many texts, but if you want a more professional review, and if it is really important that your text is correct, I would advise using the services of a professional instead. I also use AI in my work, but then I add an extra layer of review to the texts.
Transcription of handwritten texts
Besides reviewing texts, I also offer transcriptions of handwritten texts to make them more easily readable. In this area as well, there are several AI services that may be helpful, but they are still not as good as an experienced reader. My focus is on texts in Swedish, mostly because that is where I have my experience and best knowledge, but if you need help with a text in English, I can always give it a try. Just note that it will likely take me longer to transcribe in a language I am not as used to.
Archive help
When it comes to archiving, I can help out with advice and with establishing an archive or records management plan for you or your small business. I can also help you make a plan for organising your archive and deciding what to keep and how to store it. For those living in the Gothenburg area, I can also make visits and help out with the actual organising and reviewing of your material, as well as deciding what can be transferred to an archival institution for better long-term storage.
Genealogical Research
As mentioned above, I have over thirty years of experience in genealogical research, and I am happy to help if needed. I can help you to get started with your own research, read difficult texts, add context to your findings, and do all or some of the research for you. Just note that I only do research in Swedish sources and only those that are available digitally (at least to start with). If you have Swedish ancestors or want to do some research as a gift for a someone of Swedish descent, I can help you both with the research and translating the information to English, as well as making a nice-looking presentation of it.
And more...
In addition to my main areas, which are help with texts of various kinds, I have a few additional skills that allow me the possibility to offer a couple of other services as well. If and when these will be included will be decided later on, but you can always contact me if you are curious.
These include help with building and updating simple web sites (like this one) with html and css, and combining genealogy with my other business, which is dance lessons, to a wedding or party "package". I also hope to offer help with creating nice-looking presentations of genealogical finds with the aid of AI later on.
You can read more about the dance lessons at the dance school's web site (opens in a new tab). More information will come, but if you are curious, you are always welcome to contact me and ask.
Prices and payments
The costs depend mostly on how long the work takes, which in turn depends on its complexity. Please send me an email if you want more information, as I can give you a better estimate after reviewing what you need help with.
The business hasn't started yet, but you are welcome to contact me if you have questions.