🏛 The Cambridge Record

Become an auditor

This site republishes the city's record and then invites you to catch it being wrong. Volunteer auditors are how every page earns the right to be trusted, and anyone can become one.

The ledger is empty. The program is just starting, and 11,486 pages are waiting. The first audit filed will be the first entry.

1
Pick a screen name. Like Wikipedia or Reddit, you don't need to use your real name. Your screen name goes on every page you verify, and its track record is its reputation.
2
Take the course, then practice. A 10-minute read built from what's already on every page: what a policy order is, how a roll call reads, why a charter right pauses a vote. Then audit three practice pages with mistakes planted on purpose: a wrong date, a wrong term length, a link that goes somewhere else.
Practice is worth zero points. Everyone starts the real scoreboard at 0. Finding the planted mistakes is what certifies you. Try them now: practice A · practice B · practice C · answers.
3
Audit any meeting or any item. Every item page carries an “audit this page” link. You check five things against the city's own record: the headline, the outcome, every name on the roll call, the documents, and where each link actually goes.
Every page needs two independent audits to be marked verified. Anything that doesn't match gets flagged for deeper review, and a flag scores once review confirms it.

How a page becomes verified, and stays that way

○ Unauditedwaiting for its first audit
◐ Audited onceneeds a blind second audit by a different auditor
● Verifiedtwo independent audits agree; the mark carries both screen names and dates
♻ Page changedaudits are tied to the page's exact content. If the page changes, verification resets and the page needs fresh eyes

✋ Want to be one of the first auditors? Email us or watch the open repository, where every audit is a public file.