The electronic Old Bailey Sessions proceedings, c.1670-1778

Project start date: 2001-02 Project end date: 2004-01
The aim was to make available in a fully searchable form, the full text of the Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674 to 1834, in combination with original page images. The Proceedings and the website contain 25 million words of transcripts of approximately 100,000 felony trials held at the Old Bailey between 1674 and 1834. This text has been transcribed and marked up to allow both free text searching, and structured analysis using bespoke statistical tools. The site also includes contemporary maps, 40,000 words of background information, and a comprehensive database of records associated with individual trials. This project is now subsumed, in its entirety, into the larger resource: The Proceedings of the Old Bailey, 1674-1913. The a-h.net page for this is: http://www.arts-humanities.net/projects/proceedings_central_criminal_court_1834_1913_online
Subject domains: 
Era(s): 
Country/region(s): 
Methods usedCategory
2d Scanning and photographyData capture
Accessibility analysisStrategy and project management
Resource sharingCommunication and collaboration
Content analysisData analysis
Data miningData analysis
DocumentationStrategy and project management
Iterative designStrategy and project management
Text encoding - descriptiveData structuring and enhancement
Text encoding - presentationalData structuring and enhancement
Text encoding - referentialData structuring and enhancement
PrototypingStrategy and project management
Record linkagesData analysis
Risk managementStrategy and project management
Searching and queryingData analysis
System quality assurance and code testingStrategy and project management
Security planningStrategy and project management
Version controlStrategy and project management
Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)Metadata standards
Statistical analysisData analysis
textContent types
Funding sources: 
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Big Lottery Fund
Content types created: 
Dataset/structured data, Still Image/Graphics, Text
Software tools used: 
MySQL, Saxon, GATE
Source material used:  
All surviving editions of the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1670 to 1778.
Digital resource created:  
The electronic Old Bailey Sessions proceedings, c.1670-1778 makes available a fully searchable, digitised collection of all surviving editions of the Old Bailey Proceedings from 1670 to 1778. In addition to the text, accessible through both keyword and structured searching, the website provides digital images of all original pages of the Proceedings, pages of Ordinary's Accounts, advice on methods of searching this resource, information on the historical and legal background to the Old Bailey court and its Proceedings, and descriptions of published and manuscript materials relating to the trials covered. Contemporary maps, and images have also been provided.
Access to digital resource:  
Open Access
Data Formats created: 
Extensible Markup Language (XML), JPEG File Interchange Format (JPG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF)
Generation of HTML files from XML data for web-delivery, Production of compressed JPEG files from uncompressed TIFF files for web dissemination.
Metadata standards employed: 
Dublin Core, simple (DC), Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)

Institutions affiliated with this project: 

UK HE institutions involved:
University of Sheffield
University of Hertfordshire
Open University

Project staff and expertise: 

Principal staff member:Professor Tim Hitchcock, Professor Robert Shoemaker, Professor Clive Emsley
Other staff:Computing officer(s) / Technical supporter(s), Postdoctoral researcher(s) / Research assistant(s)
External expertise:


Metadata on this arts-humanities.net record
Author(s) of recordTim Hitchcock
TitleThe electronic Old Bailey Sessions proceedings, c.1670-1778
Record created2010-05-07
Record updated2010-06-11 11:17
URL of recordhttp://www.arts-humanities.net/node/3717
Citation of recordTim Hitchcock: The electronic Old Bailey Sessions proceedings, c.1670-1778.
<http://www.arts-humanities.net/node/3717>
created: 2010-05-07, last updated 2010-06-11 11:17