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Archive for January, 2015

Progress update, 17 to 23 January 2015

By Tim Causer, on 23 January 2015

Welcome to the progress update for the period 17 to 23 January 2015, during which time further excellent progress has bee made by TB volunteers.

12,143 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed, which is an increase of 54 on this time last week. Of these, 11,008 (91%) have been checked and approved by TB staff. That 91% of all submissions have been approved after checking really is a testament to the quality of work carried out by TB volunteers – the proportion of accepted transcripts will no doubt be even greater once we work our way through the backlog of submissions. Thanks again for your patience while we work through them.

The more detailed state of progress is as follows:

Box No. of manuscripts worked on No. of manuscripts in box Completion
Box 1 243 794 30%
Box 2 470 753 62%
Box 4 2 694 1%
Box 5 199 290 68%
Box 7 0 167 0%
Box 8 3 284 1%
Box 9 30 266 11%
Box 15 77 914 9%
Box 18 4 192 2%
Box 27 350 350 COMPLETE
Box 29 22 122 18%
Box 30 1 193 1%
Box 31 18 302 6%
Box 34 38 398 9%
Box 35 286 439 65%
Box 36 33 418 7%
Box 37 31 487 6%
Box 38 72 424 16%
Box 39 11 282 3%
Box 41 85 528 14%
Box 42 88 910 9%
Box 44 53 201 26%
Box 50 167 198 83%
Box 51 379 940 40%
Box 57 18 420 4%
Box 62 57 565 10%
Box 63 151 345 43%
Box 70 306 350 87%
Box 71 663 663 COMPLETE
Box 72 613 664 92%
Box 73 151 151 COMPLETE
Box 79 199 199 COMPLETE
Box 95 126 147 85%
Box 96 534 539 99%
Box 97 131 296 44%
Box 98 221 499 44%
Box 100 194 422 43%
Box 106 40 581 6%
Box 107 501 538 93%
Box 110 6 671 1%
Box 115 276 307 89%
Box 116 505 864 58%
Box 117 363 853 42%
Box 118 248 880 28%
Box 119 532 990 53%
Box 120 27 686 3%
Box 121 133 526 24%
Box 122 304 717 41%
Box 123 38 443 8%
Box 124 14 383 3%
Box 139 40 40 COMPLETE
Box 141 2 381 1%
Box 149 4 581 1%
Box 150 322 972 33%
Box 169 189 728 25%
Add MS 537 729 744 97%
Add MS 538 693 858 80%
Add MS 539 833 948 87%
Add MS 540 53 1012 5%
Add MS 541 265 1258 21%
Overall 12,089 31,767 37%

We are again particularly grateful for all the transcripts of Box 150 manuscripts – Dr Quinn is finding them very useful in the course of his work.

UK-based readers might be interested in listening to last Monday’s episode of BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week, which was on the subject of surveillance and censorship. It featured a panel consisting of Professor Catriona Kelly, Paul Muldoon, Cory Doctorow, and Professor Philip Schofield, the Director of the Bentham Project.

Finally, the next progress update will be given on Monday 2 February: I am away at the end of next week at a seminar. Please do accept my apologies for any inconvenience which this may cause.

Thank you, as always, to everyone who has given their time so generously to Transcribe Bentham during the last seven days. It remains as appreciated as ever.

Progress update, 10 to 16 January 2015

By Tim Causer, on 16 January 2015

Welcome along to the progress update for the period 10 to 16 January 2015, during which time further steady progress has been made by TB volunteers.

12,089 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed, which is an increase of 27 on this time last week. Of these transcripts, 10,992 (91%) have been checked and approved by TB staff. We’ll very soon have approved the 11,000th transcript, which is a great testament to the quality of work submitted by volunteer transcribers.

The more detailed state of progress is as follows:

Box No. of manuscripts worked on No. of manuscripts in box Completion
Box 1 242 794 30%
Box 2 470 753 62%
Box 4 2 694 1%
Box 5 199 290 68%
Box 7 0 167 0%
Box 8 3 284 1%
Box 9 30 266 11%
Box 15 77 914 9%
Box 18 4 192 2%
Box 27 350 350 COMPLETE
Box 29 22 122 18%
Box 30 1 193 1%
Box 31 18 302 6%
Box 34 38 398 9%
Box 35 286 439 65%
Box 36 33 418 7%
Box 37 31 487 6%
Box 38 71 424 16%
Box 39 11 282 3%
Box 41 85 528 14%
Box 42 88 910 9%
Box 44 53 201 26%
Box 50 167 198 83%
Box 51 379 940 40%
Box 57 18 420 4%
Box 62 57 565 10%
Box 63 151 345 43%
Box 70 306 350 87%
Box 71 663 663 COMPLETE
Box 72 613 664 92%
Box 73 151 151 COMPLETE
Box 79 199 199 COMPLETE
Box 95 126 147 85%
Box 96 534 539 99%
Box 97 131 296 44%
Box 98 221 499 44%
Box 100 194 422 43%
Box 106 39 581 5%
Box 107 501 538 93%
Box 110 6 671 1%
Box 115 276 307 89%
Box 116 505 864 58%
Box 117 363 853 42%
Box 118 248 880 28%
Box 119 530 990 53%
Box 120 26 686 3%
Box 121 133 526 24%
Box 122 304 717 41%
Box 123 35 443 7%
Box 124 7 383 1%
Box 139 40 40 COMPLETE
Box 141 1 381 1%
Box 149 4 581 1%
Box 150 285 972 27%
Box 169 189 728 25%
Add MS 537 729 744 97%
Add MS 538 693 858 80%
Add MS 539 833 948 87%
Add MS 540 53 1012 5%
Add MS 541 265 1258 21%
Overall 12,089 31,767 37%

We are particularly grateful for the receipt of a good number of manuscripts from Box 150, which are going to be of material benefit to Dr Michael Quinn of the Bentham Project in producing a forthcoming volume of Bentham’s writings on political economy for the Collected Works.

A ‘Crowdsourcing for Humanities Researchers‘ workshop, co-organised with the Arthur Schnitzler Digital project, will be held at the University of Cambridge on Tuesday 20 January, at which I’ll be speaking about Transcribe Bentham and tranScriptorium.

And finally, on Monday 19 January Professor Philip Schofield, Director of the Bentham Project, will be part of the panel on BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week, where he will be talking about surveillance and self-censorship. The broadcast starts at 9am, and will also be subsequently available via the BBC iPlayer.

Thank you, as always, to everyone who has so generously given their time and effort to Transcribe Bentham during the last seven days. It remains as hugely appreciated as ever.

 

Progress update, and happy 2015!

By Tim Causer, on 9 January 2015

Welcome along to the first progress update of 2015! We would like to wish all TB volunteers and readers of the blog a very happy new year.

Since the last progress update, given on 19 December 2014, a further 112 transcripts have been worked on, so 12,062 manuscripts have now been transcribed or partially-transcribed. The 12,000th transcript has been well and truly reached – another tremendous achievement by TB volunteers.

Of these transcripts, 10,957 (91%) have been checked and approved by TB staff. We have resumed checking transcripts, and continue to work our way through the backlog – many thanks for your continuing patience.

The more detailed state of progress is as follows:

Box No. of manuscripts worked on No. of manuscripts in box Completion
Box 1 242 794 30%
Box 2 470 753 62%
Box 4 1 694 1%
Box 5 199 290 68%
Box 7 0 167 0%
Box 8 3 284 1%
Box 9 30 266 11%
Box 15 77 914 9%
Box 18 4 192 2%
Box 27 350 350 100%
Box 29 22 122 18%
Box 30 1 193 1%
Box 31 18 302 6%
Box 34 38 398 9%
Box 35 286 439 65%
Box 36 33 418 7%
Box 37 31 487 6%
Box 38 69 424 16%
Box 39 11 282 3%
Box 41 85 528 14%
Box 42 88 910 9%
Box 44 53 201 26%
Box 50 167 198 83%
Box 51 379 940 40%
Box 57 18 420 4%
Box 62 57 565 10%
Box 63 151 345 43%
Box 70 306 350 87%
Box 71 663 663 100%
Box 72 613 664 92%
Box 73 151 151 100%
Box 79 199 199 100%
Box 95 126 147 85%
Box 96 534 539 99%
Box 97 131 296 44%
Box 98 221 499 44%
Box 100 194 422 43%
Box 106 34 581 5%
Box 107 501 538 93%
Box 110 6 671 1%
Box 115 276 307 89%
Box 116 505 864 58%
Box 117 363 853 42%
Box 118 248 880 28%
Box 119 530 990 53%
Box 120 26 686 3%
Box 121 133 526 24%
Box 122 304 717 41%
Box 123 35 443 7%
Box 124 7 383 1%
Box 139 40 40 100%
Box 141 1 381 1%
Box 149 4 581 1%
Box 150 266 972 27%
Box 169 189 728 25%
Add MS 537 729 744 97%
Add MS 538 693 858 80%
Add MS 539 833 948 87%
Add MS 540 53 1012 5%
Add MS 541 265 1258 21%
Overall 12,062 31,767 37%

Help with transcription

As noted in an earlier post, the Bentham Project has recently received a Leverhulme Trust Research Project Grant, to produce the authoritative edition of Bentham’s writings on political economy, as part of the Collected Works of Jeremy Bentham. The key task for this year is in editing Bentham’s work on the Thames Police Bill, which he drew up in conjunction with the magistrate, Patrick Colquhoun. The Bill was drafter in 1798 and enacted in 1800, establishing the Thames River Police – the first regular, professional police force in the world – to prevent thefts of cargo on the Thames.

Volunteers can, if they wish, assist Dr Michael Quinn, Senior Research Associate at the Bentham Project, with this work by transcribing material from Box 150. Manuscripts from this box already transcribed by volunteers have already been of assistance, and will continue to be so throughout the year. Needless to say, all volunteers will be credited for their work in the acknowledgements to the published volume.

Job opportunities

The Bentham Project currently has two job vacancies available, both with a closing date of Sunday 18 January. First, is a full-time Research Associate position, funded for twelve months in the first instance, for someone with a PhD in history or cognate discipline, to assist Professor Philip Schofield in work on Bentham’s correspondence, and his writings on logic and language, judicial evidence, and religion.

Second, is for a part-time Transcription Assistant (o.2FTE/one day per week), funded for five years in the first instance, for someone to assist Professor Schofield and Dr Quinn with the preparation of the volumes of Benham’s writings on political economy.

As always, we are enormously grateful to everyone who has given their time so generously to Transcribe Bentham during the last seven day. Here’s to another great year of transcription!