The Encyclopédie Corrections Project
What has been corrected: (updated 6/2007)
- We have corrected errors in the text using a 2 step process: First, we completed an automatic recognition/correction process that fixed over 25,000 high-frequency errors (e.g., semme for femme, deseription for description, etc.). Then, using our own spell-checking mechanism, we have identified possible remaining errors in the text which we can then compare to the Encyclopédie page images and hand-correct if necessary. Currently, all 17 volumes of text and 11 volumes of plate-legend text have been processed and we have integrated some 200,000 modifications/corrections into the Encyclopédie database.
- Missing page images from the 17 volumes of text, as well as all
of the plate-legend page images have been scanned and uploaded.
Note: because of pagination issues in the Plate volumes, some links to plate-legend images may not work - this will be corrected at a later date. This problem has been corrected for plate volumes 18, 19, 20 & 21. - We have corrected many of the systematic errors contained in the metadata fields - e.g., Headwords, Authors, Classifications, Parts of speech and Types of entry.
- We have included the names of certain authors that were not originally indicated in the Encyclopédie itself, but that were determined through later research such as that done most notably by Schwab and his associates. These additions are indicated in the following manner: pertaining to Diderot, Diderot1 refers to the articles that the Encyclopédie ascribes to Diderot, while Diderot2 refers to articles by Diderot discovered by the research done by Jacques Proust. Consequently, other author attributions coming from Schwab's research are indicated by a 5 (e.g., Voltaire5, d'Alembert5 etc.) To find author additions enter 2|5 in the author field of the Search form.
What remains to be corrected:
- We will continue on with the second step of text corrections outlined above, hand-correcting the remaining 6 volumes of plates and plate-legends, fixing recognized errors in the text by way of page image comparison.
- After the text is corrected, we will begin corrections on the remaining metatdata errors - e.g., missing articles, article mis-recognitions, missing authors, classifications, etc.
- Finally, the last step of the corrections process will be a full implementation of the article/plate linking mechanism, whereby cross-references and references to plates that occur in the Encyclopédie will be established.