This document summarizes the Transcribe Bentham project, which uses crowdsourcing to transcribe and encode the papers of philosopher Jeremy Bentham. Volunteers use a MediaWiki platform to transcribe over 4,400 pages. Transcriptions are uploaded to a public digital archive alongside high-resolution images. The project is a collaboration between several University College London departments and receives funding from grants to continue its work of making Bentham's writings openly accessible online.

1. TRANSCRIBE BENTHAM
a participatory initiative
Franny Gaede
INF 385T: Introduction to Digital Humanities
October 8, 2012

2. what is it?
crowdsourced
transcription,
encoding of the
philosopher Jeremy
Bentham’s (1748-1832)
papers using
MediaWiki software

3. what is it?
inter-departmental
project at the
University College
London
an open access
initiative

4. what is it?
will be uploaded to
UCL’s digital Bentham
Papers repository and
presented alongside
high resolution image
files
<- virtual auto-icon

5. meaning, medium, & message
this collaborative
encoding work could
only be completed
online

6. meaning, medium, & message
transcription is
completed by mostly
anonymous volunteer
editors
4,424 folios transcribed

7. meaning, medium, & message
interested in
paleography?
literature? philosophy?
transcription?

8. meaning, medium, & message
transcriptions will feed
ongoing projects

9. accessibility & sustainability
open access, open source
http:/
/code.google.com/p/tb-transcription-desk/

10. accessibility & sustainability
accessibility issues:
reCaptcha, editing has a high
learning curve

11. credit
administrators
money
participants

12. documentation
getting started &
introductory
encoding videos

13. documentation
extensive
transcription
guidelines

14. documentation
blog updated weekly
with statistics, project
news
the Benthamometer

15. associated scholarship
150+ blog posts,
articles, talks,
and
announcements

16. moving forward
$538,000 grant
from the Andrew
W. Mellon
Foundation
major goal:
redesigning the
transcription desk

17. useful & compelling

18. image credits
Slide 2: http:/
/www.transcribe-bentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/skins/bentham-modern/TB-logo.gif
Slide 3: http:/
/digitool-b.lib.ucl.ac.uk:8881/exlibris/dtl/u3_1/dtle/www_r_eng/icon/benthamlarge.jpg
Slide 4: http:/
/www.ucl.ac.uk/Bentham-Project/who/autoicon/Virtual_Auto_Icon
Slide 5: http:/
/www.transcribe-bentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/index.php?title=JB/002/384/001&action=edit
Slides 6 & 7: http:/
/www.transcribe-bentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/Transcribe_Bentham
Slide 8: http:/
/www.barnesandnoble.com/w/collected-works-of-jeremy-bentham-luke-osullivan/
1102436737
Slides 9 & 10: http:/
/commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:MediaWiki_logos
Slide 11: http:/
/www.ucl.ac.uk/transcribe-bentham/people/, http:/
/www.transcribebentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/Transcribe_Bentham
Slide 12: http:/
/www.transcribe-bentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/Getting_Started
Slide 13: http:/
/www.transcribe-bentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/Help:Transcription_Guidelines
Slide 14: http:/
/www.transcribe-bentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/Transcribe_Bentham
Slide 15: http:/
/beatl.barnard.columbia.edu/amciv/images.html
Slide 16: http:/
/www.transcribe-bentham.da.ulcc.ac.uk/td/JB/051/285/002