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Archive for June, 2011

Transcribe Bentham progress update, 18 to 24 June 2011

By Tim Causer, on 24 June 2011

Welcome to this week’s progress update from Transcribe Bentham.

During the past week, the Benthamometer has risen and now shows that 1,478 manuscripts have now been transcribed, an increase of 21 on last week; we anticipate breaking the 1,500-barrier next Friday. 1,240 – or 84% – of the transcripts are now complete and locked.

A manuscript transcribed by Lea Stern from the Panopticon material in Box 115 is extremely sad, written about 1809, and reveals Bentham’s bitterness and disillusionment at having his  scheme thwarted. If volunteers find something unusual or amusing in transcribing, do let us know and we will try and add some context to it.

The state of progress for each Box of material is as follows:

  • Box 2: 166 manuscripts transcribed of 532 (31%)
  • Box 27: 202 of 350 (58%)
  • Box 35: 133 of 439 (30%)
  • Box 50: 28 of 92 (30%)
  • Box 70: 153 of 250 (44%)
  • Box 71: 54 of 665 (8%)
  • Box 72: 80 of 664 (12%)
  • Box 73: 111 of 156 (71%)
  • Box 79: 18 of 199 (9%)
  • Box 95: 43 of 147 (29%)
  • Box 96: 254 of 539 (47%)
  • Box 115: 210 of 307 (68%)
  • Box 139: 26 of 584 (4%)
  • Overall: 1,478 of the 4,322 (34%) manuscripts uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

Thanks again to all who have taken part during the last week, and given their time and effort in continuing Transcribe Bentham’s progress.

Transcribe Bentham progress update, 11 to 17 June 2011

By Tim Causer, on 17 June 2011

Every Friday, we issue a progress update to keep everyone up to speed with the work of Transcribe Bentham volunteers, and with the project itself. We usually add this to a thread in the project discussion forum, but we will now also add it to the blog each week.

During the past week, the Benthamometer shows that 1,457 manuscripts have been transcribed, 1,216 (83% of those transcribed) of which are locked and complete. Box 115, containing the Panopticon material, has again proven the most popular material to transcribe this week.

The state of progress for each Box of material is as follows:

We are delighted at the progress made by Transcribe Bentham volunteers, and would like to thank everyone who has given their time and effort this week.

Transcribe Bentham volunteer transcripts in UCL’s digital repository

By Tim Causer, on 16 June 2011

In a previous blog entry, we wrote about how a first batch of volunteer-produced transcripts had been uploaded to UCL’s digital repository, and how they could be viewed alongside the manuscript image.

Almost 600 transcripts produced by Transcribe Bentham volunteers have now been uploaded to the repository, and are viewable. Volunteers may also be interested to note that it is also possible to search for transcripts upon which they have worked. Using the ‘advanced search‘ option, simply select ‘Bentham Collection’ from the drop-down ‘select collection’ menu, type the volunteer’s username or surname into the first text field, click the button to its left, and press ‘go’. Volunteers will then be presented with a list of transcripts in which they have had a hand.

As more transcripts are added and more data can be searched, so the value of this resource grows. The project team are again extremely grateful to volunteers for producing 1,433 transcripts – 1,193 (83%) of which are complete – since the project began last September. We estimate that to date volunteers have cumulatively transcribed – at a conservative estimate – at least 350,000 words.

Volunteer’s efforts are assisting in the production of the new Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham and, through the digital repository, widening access to the collection and ensuring its long-term preservation for all. More transcripts will be added to the repository in due course, so watch this space.

Thanks again to UCL Library’s IT Service team for uploading the transcripts and hosting the collection.