Proceedings of the Central Criminal Court 1834 to 1913, Online
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Grant Holder:
Professor Tim Hitchcock
The Central Criminal Court Online has digitised and posted in a searchable form 70 million words of transcripts of trials held at the Old Bailey between 1834 and 1913. It forms an extension to the NOF and AHRB funded project 'The Old Bailey Online', and forms a seamless body of text detailing all trials held between 1674 and 1834. In total approximately 125 million words of text is available. By tagging the rekeyed and OCRd text in XML for names, offences, trial outcomes, punsihments, etc., the site allows comprehensive statistical information to be generated.
This site makes available the largest body of printed text detailing the lives of non-elite people ever created, and in the process contributes substantially to two distinct forms of historical enquiry. The tagged information detailing trials and their outcomes provides the basis for a new and uniquely detailed history of crime and punishment. And the full keyword searchable transcripts also provide access to uniquely detailed descriptions of everyday life, and in doing so make a major contribution to a broader social history. By dint of the sheer volume of text, the site also contributes to a range of further disciplines such as literary studies, historical geography, economic history etc.
Generation of HTML files from XML data for web-delivery; Production of compressed JPEG files from uncompressed TIFF files for web dissemination.
| Project start date: 2005-08 | Project end date: 2008-07 |
Era(s):
Country/region(s):
| Methods used | Category |
|---|---|
| 2d Scanning and photography | Data capture |
| Accessibility analysis | Strategy and project management |
| Resource sharing | Communication and collaboration |
| Content analysis | Data analysis |
| Data mining | Data analysis |
| Documentation | Strategy and project management |
| Graphical interaction (synchronous) | Communication and collaboration |
| Iterative design | Strategy and project management |
| Text encoding - descriptive | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Text encoding - presentational | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Text encoding - referential | Data structuring and enhancement |
| Prototyping | Strategy and project management |
| Record linkages | Data analysis |
| Risk management | Strategy and project management |
| Searching and querying | Data analysis |
| Server scripting | Data publishing and dissemination |
| System quality assurance and code testing | Strategy and project management |
| Security planning | Strategy and project management |
| Version control | Strategy and project management |
| Text recognition | Data capture |
| Textual interaction (synchronous) | Communication and collaboration |
| Web browser scripting | Data publishing and dissemination |
| Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) | Metadata standards |
| Statistical analysis | Data analysis |
| text | Content types |
Funding sources:
Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC)
Content types created:
Dataset/structured data, Still Image/Graphics, Text
Software tools used:
MySQL, Perl, Saxon, jEdit, GATE, Apache Commons, JAXP
Source material used:
The project is concerned to digitise a single, consistent serial publication: The Proceedings of the Central Criminal Court. Published eight times a year between 1834 and 1913, this essentially legal publication provides transcripts of evidence given before the court. This transcription is based on a microfilm edition original produced in 1981.
Digital resource created:
The project is concerned to produce a single, consistent online textbase, comprising 125 million words of trial transcript, tagged in XML and made searchable both by keyword and through structured queries. The site also makes available in a similar format the full text of the Ordinary of Newgate's Accounts for the period 1690 to 1774, detailing the life histories and final moments of everyone executed at Tyburn between those dates. And is combined with the 'Old Bailey Online' to form a seamless online textbase covering 240 years.
In addition to the transcribed text, high resolution images of all original pages are also made available.
Access to digital resource:
Open Access
Data Formats created:
JPEG File Interchange Format (JPG), Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), Extensible Markup Language (XML) TEI-compliant
Metadata standards employed:
Dublin Core, simple (DC), Text Encoding Initiative (TEI)
Institutions affiliated with this project:
| UK HE institutions involved: |
|---|
| University of Sheffield |
| The Open University |
| University of Hertfordshire |
Project staff and expertise:
| Principal staff member: | Professor Tim Hitchcock; Professor Robert Shoemaker; Professor Clive Emsley |
|---|---|
| Other staff: | Postdoctoral researcher(s) / Research assistant(s) |
| External expertise: |
| Metadata on this arts-humanities.net record | |
|---|---|
| Author(s) of record | Tim Hitchcock |
| Title | Proceedings of the Central Criminal Court 1834 to 1913, Online |
| Record created | 2008-03-14 |
| Record updated | 2010-06-11 11:17 |
| URL of record | http://www.arts-humanities.net/node/2265 |
| Citation of record | Tim Hitchcock: Proceedings of the Central Criminal Court 1834 to 1913, Online. <http://www.arts-humanities.net/node/2265> created: 2008-03-14, last updated 2010-06-11 11:17 |