The scheme is part of the latest stage of the British Official Publications Collaborative Reader Information Service (BOPCRIS) project to digitise British Official Publications dating from 1688 to 1995.
The technology used in the digitisation process consisted of a one tonne robotic scanner that processed 500 pages of manuscript per hour, pages were turned using vacuums whilst the edges pinpointed with lasers. The process allowed staff to focus their efforts on indexing and classification meaning 14,000 documents and one million pages of parliamentary history from the time are now fully digitised and searchable. Without the initiative, much of the information would be otherwise largely inaccessible to students and researchers alike; furthermore, it is also the first time this technology has been used in the UK
Project leader, Julian Ball of the University of Southampton, said: ‘The project brings together a rare and comprehensive set of 1400 volumes of British official parliamentary publications from 1688 to 1834. Volumes have been accessed from the University of Southampton and the partners’ libraries at the University of Cambridge and the British Library. Texts include the Journals of the House of Commons and Lords, Private Bills and Acts, Parliamentary Register and the House of Commons and Lords Sessional Papers.
BOPCRIS (British official publications Collaborative Reader Information Service) bibliographic database covering the period 1688 - 1995. This site may be used to search a bibliographic database of approximately 39,000 selected British official publications within this period. The database includes details such as: Title, Author, Series, Publisher, detailed Abstract and Library of Congress Subject Headings. Text images are not provided within this site at the moment. The originals of these documents are held by a small number of specialist libraries in the UK with holdings of official publications. Click BOP Directory in the sidebar to see the listing and to search for an appropriate location.
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