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Archive for January, 2012

Progress update, 21 to 27 January 2012

By Tim Causer, on 27 January 2012

Welcome to the progress update for 21 to 27 January 2012, during which the proportion of completed transcripts has increased once more.

2,596 manuscripts have now been transcribed, an increase of 35 on last week’s total. Of these, 2,365 – 91%! – are now complete, which is up 59 on last week’s total. As we said last week, this high proportion of completed transcripts really is testament to the quality of work being done by Transcribe Bentham volunteers.

The detailed state of progress is as follows:

  • Box 2: 287 manuscripts transcribed of 532 (53%)
  • Box 27: 240 of 350 (68%)
  • Box 35: 228 of 439 (51%)
  • Box 50: 47 of 92 (51%)
  • Box 51: 45 of 940 (4%)
  • Box 62: 41 of 565 (7%)
  • Box 70: 165 of 250 (47%)
  • Box 71: 299 of 665 (44%)
  • Box 72: 209 of 664 (31%)
  • Box 73: 119 of 156 (76%)
  • Box 79: 75 of 199 (37%)
  • Box 95: 44 of 147 (30%)
  • Box 96: 506 of 539 (93%)
  • Box 97: 21 of 288 (6%)
  • Box 115: 232 of 307 (75%)
  • Box 139: 38 of 38 (100%)
  • Overall: 46% of the 5,580 manuscripts uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

Box 72 saw the most activity during the last seven days, with Box 2 not far behind.

In related news, regular readers may remember that towards the end of last year, that Bentham’s Auto-Icon was removed from its cabinet as part of a refurbishment of the site. The Auto-Icon was taken to a quiet room while all this was going, and new and up-to-date photographs were taken by Tony Slade, the manager of UCL’s Design and Web Services (and member of the Transcribe Bentham project team).  Tony also created a 360-degree rotatable Virtual Auto-Icon, which is now available via the Bentham Project website. If you have always wanted to have a look at this curious exhibit, but can’t make it to the South Cloisters of UCL, now is your chance!

Thank you, as ever, to all those who have given their time to the project during the last seven days, and ensuring Transcribe Bentham‘s ongoing success.

Progress update, 14 to 20 January 2012

By Tim Causer, on 20 January 2012

Welcome to the progress update for the period 14 to 20 January 2012, during which – following on from reaching our 2,500th transcript last week – TB volunteers have hit yet another landmark!

2,561 manuscripts have now been transcribed, which is an increase of 42 on last week’s total. Of these, 2,306 are complete and have been locked. This means that 90% of all the transcripts are now complete, which is a terrific achievement and a real testament to the quality of work being done by TB volunteers.

The detailed state of progress is as follows:

The state of progress for each box is as follows:

  • Box 2: 280 manuscripts transcribed of 532 (52%)
  • Box 27: 240 of 350 (68%)
  • Box 35: 227 of 439 (51%)
  • Box 50: 47 of 92 (51%)
  • Box 51: 45 of 940 (4%)
  • Box 62: 38 of 565 (6%)
  • Box 70: 165 of 250 (47%)
  • Box 71: 297 of 665 (44%)
  • Box 72: 194 of 664 (29%)
  • Box 73: 119 of 156 (76%)
  • Box 79: 75 of 199 (37%)
  • Box 95: 44 of 147 (30%)
  • Box 96: 501 of 539 (92%)
  • Box 97: 20 of 288 (6%)
  • Box 115: 231 of 307 (75%)
  • Box 139: 38 of 38 (100%)
  • Overall: 45% of the 5,580 manuscripts uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

During the last week, we have been looking at the first few responses received in our new volunteer survey (and thank you to all for these so far). A clear theme is a little frustration at not being able to easily distinguish between completed, partially-completed, and untranscribed manuscripts. We realise that this is a great inconvenience, and solving this problem is a priority when we receive funding to further develop and improve the transcription tool.

In the meantime, we have updated (and will continue to keep up to date) lists of partially-transcribed manuscripts, and another of completed and locked transcripts. We hope that in the meantime, these lists will make selecting a manuscript a little easier.

Thank you, as ever, to all those who have generously given their time during the last seven days. It remains greatly appreciated.

Progress update, 7 January to 13 January 2012

By Tim Causer, on 13 January 2012

Welcome to the progress update for the period 7 January to 13 January 2012, during which TB volunteers have achieved yet another landmark.

The 2,500th transcript has been reached! 2,519 manuscripts have now been transcribed, an increase of 51 on last week. This has been achieved in little over 16 months, and amounts to somewhere between 620,000 and 1.8 million words (not including encoding). See this previous blog for the basis of these estimates.

As we are still working through transcripts submitted during the holiday period – we are onto the last 30 of the 130+ gratefully received – we will have to hold off until next week on telling you what percentage of them are complete.

The state of progress for each box is as follows:

  • Box 2: 275 manuscripts transcribed of 532 (51%)
  • Box 27: 240 of 350 (68%)
  • Box 35: 227 of 439 (51%)
  • Box 50: 47 of 92 (51%)
  • Box 51: 45 of 940 (4%)
  • Box 62: 32 of 565 (5%)
  • Box 70: 164 of 250 (46%)
  • Box 71: 292 of 665 (43%)
  • Box 72: 176 of 664 (26%)
  • Box 73: 119 of 156 (76%)
  • Box 79: 75 of 199 (37%)
  • Box 95: 44 of 147 (30%)
  • Box 96: 497 of 539 (92%)
  • Box 97: 17 of 288 (5%)
  • Box 115: 230 of 307 (75%)
  • Box 139: 38 of 38 (100%)
  • Overall: 45% of the 5,580 manuscripts uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

Boxes 2, 72 and 96 were the most frequently worked on this week, with Box 96 now being 92% complete – very nearly there.

We have also had a quick look at some of the early responses to our latest volunteer survey, and we’ve noted remarks about the list of complete and incomplete transcripts not being up to date. Once we have got through the submissions, rest assured that we will be updating this list to help avoid any frustration. If you haven’t yet answered the survey and have a few moments to spare, please do have a go – it will help us find out what aspects of Transcribe Bentham are in need of improvement.

Our thanks, as ever, to everyone who has taken part during the last week, and indeed over the break. We look forward to another successful year for Transcribe Bentham!

Progress update, 31 December 2011 to 6 January 2012

By Tim Causer, on 8 January 2012

Welcome to the last of the truncated progress updates, for the period 31 December 2011 to 6 January 2012. TB staff return to the office on 9 January, and during the week will begin working through submissions received over the festive period. Thank you for them all!

2,468 manuscripts have now been transcribed, up 47 on last week. We are, therefore, only a few transcripts away from reaching the next landmark of 2,500 transcripts!

The state of play for each box is as follows:

  • Box 2: 270 manuscripts transcribed of 532 (50%)
  • Box 27: 240 of 350 (68%)
  • Box 35: 227 of 439 (51%)
  • Box 50: 46 of 92 (50%)
  • Box 51: 44 of 940 (4%)
  • Box 62: 28 of 565 (4%)
  • Box 70: 164 of 250 (46%)
  • Box 71: 290 of 665 (43%)
  • Box 72: 163 of 664 (24%)
  • Box 73: 119 of 156 (76%)
  • Box 79: 72 of 199 (36%)
  • Box 95: 44 of 147 (30%)
  • Box 96: 476 of 539 (88%)
  • Box 97: 17 of 288 (5%)
  • Box 115: 230 of 307 (75%)
  • Box 139: 38 of 38 (100%)
  • Overall: 44% of the 5,580 manuscripts uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

We have also begun looking at the responses to our user survey, and will set about addressing a few issues raised ther, such as problems with the completed folios page.

Thank you, as ever, to all those who have given their time during the past seven days. We look forward to making further exciting progress with you throughout 2012!

Progress update 24 to 30 December 2011

By Tim Causer, on 1 January 2012

Welcome to the (again, slightly shorter than usual) progress update for the period 24 to 31 December 2011. 2,421 manuscripts have now been transcribed, up 38 on last week’s total – we are particularly grateful for these transcripts given that it’s the turn of the year. Speaking of which, since this time last year, some 1,500 manuscripts have been transcribed, a remarkable total.

The state of play for each box is as follows:

  • Box 2: 264 manuscripts transcribed of 532 (49%)
  • Box 27: 238 of 350 (68%)
  • Box 35: 226 of 439 (51%)
  • Box 50: 44 of 92 (47%)
  • Box 51: 44 of 940 (4%)
  • Box 62: 28 of 565 (4%)
  • Box 70: 164 of 250 (46%)
  • Box 71: 288 of 665 (43%)
  • Box 72: 152 of 664 (22%)
  • Box 73: 119 of 156 (76%)
  • Box 79: 71 of 199 (35%)
  • Box 95: 44 of 147 (30%)
  • Box 96: 455 of 539 (84%)
  • Box 97: 16 of 288 (5%)
  • Box 115: 230 of 307 (75%)
  • Box 139: 38 of 38 (100%)
  • Overall: 42% of the 5,580 manuscripts uploaded to the website have been transcribed thus far.

Thank you, once again, to all those who have given their time and effort in taking part during the last week and, indeed, during the last twelve months. Transcribe Bentham could not be successful without all of your efforts, and we are sincerely grateful. We would also like to wish everyone a very happy 2012!