Approving and Adding ConSource Content

The purpose of this document is to describe in detail 1) the procedure for approving new content for inclusion in the ConSource Library and 2) the procedure for adding new content to the ConSource Library. For this document or any future amendment to be binding on the organization, it must be adopted unanimously by the Board of Directors. This document should be read in tandem with the certification standards for the project upon which it is based, and should be updated as changes are made to the certification standards.

A) Basic Definitions

1. Framer. An individual who participated in an official body that drafted or ratified the original seven articles in the Constitution. This includes:

a. Delegates to the Constitutional Convention

b. Delegates to state ratification debates

2. Amender. An individual who participated in an official body that drafted or ratified Amendments to the Constitution. This includes:

a. Members of Congress during the drafting of Amendments to the Constitution

b. Officials in state legislatures who debated and ratified Amendments to the Constitution

3. Influencer. An individual whose direct or indirect influence was reasonably related to the drafting or ratification of the Constitution or its Amendments. This includes:

a. Constitutional rights activists who influenced Amendments, such as Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Frederick Douglass, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

b. Contemporary and historical thought leaders whose original ideas are reflected in the text of the Constitution, its Amendments, or other Source Documents attributed to Framers or Amenders.

4. Document. A document is a record of a writing that includes one or more of the following:

a. Source image(s) of the original writing

b. Image(s) of existing transcription(s) of the writing

c. Digital text transcription(s) of the writing

5. Source Document. A Document that meets one of the following criteria:

a. The writing is a primary source that gives a first-hand account of the drafting or ratification of the Constitution or its Amendments.

b. The writing was authored by a Framer or Amender at any time.

c. The writing is reasonably related to the drafting or ratification of the Constitution or its Amendments as explained under the definition of Influencer above, and was written before the drafting or ratification of the text to which it relates.

6. Phases. The project is pursuing content in following four phases. These phases can be amended by unanimous consent of the Board of Directors.

a. Phase I – Includes source documents for Article I-Amendment 10 from the beginning of the Constitutional Convention, May 25, 1787 through the ratification of the Bill of Rights, December 15, 1791.

b. Phase II – Includes source documents for Article I-Amendment 10 from Antiquity through the Enlightenment which pre-date May 25, 1787.

c. Phase III – Includes source material for Amendments 11-15.

d. Phase IV – Includes source material for Amendments 16-27.

B) Methods of Approval

1. To be added to the ConSource Library, content must fit into one of the following categories:

a. A Source Document that fits into a Phase of the project that has been approved by majority vote by a quorum[1]of the Academic Advisory Board convened[2]in-person, telephonically, or digitally for the purpose of approving content.

b. A Document that fits into a Phase of the project and has been unanimously approved by a quorum of the Academic Advisory Board convened in-person, telephonically, or digitally for the purpose of approving content.

In short, the ConSource Library will contain Documents that tell the story of a particular constitutional text prior to ratification or which were written by a Framer or Amender. All exceptions must be unanimously approved by the Academic Advisory Board.

The procedure for adding and indexing new content is outlined below.

A) Approval

1. Content should first be approved according to procedures outlined above.

B) Funding

2. Funding should first be secured for any new content.

C) Scanning & Media Collection

1. Source images. To be certified, source images of the original writing must be scanned or digitally photographed at 400 DPI (dots per inch) at full size and be downloadable in a standard digital format (TIFF, lossless PNG, or other lossless open format) at the same resolution, and be housed in a publicly-accessible institution[3](an “archival quality source image”). These source images may be displayed on screen to and downloadable by end users in a compressed/quantized format at 250 DPI and scaled to 8" on the longest side to diminish Internet bandwidth demands (a “web-optimized source image”).

2. Images or digital text versions of existing transcriptions. An existing transcription for a Source Document may be certified if it is in the public domain and approved by the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, or if it is from an online or printed source that has been verified for its accuracy against originals or early printed text and approved by the Academic Advisory Board. If the transcription is not available in digital format, it must be scanned at a reasonable pixel density to allow for accurate OCR (optical character recognition) of the underlying text, and it must be processed through OCR software.

D) Metadata Collection

1. Source images. The organization or individual who creates the source image must identify bibliographic information based off of a pre-defined rubric maintained by the Research Associate.

2. Images of existing transcriptions. ConSource staff or qualified volunteers must collect bibliographic information based off of a pre-defined rubric maintained by the Research Associate.

3. Additional metadata. Additional metadata may also be collected and some metadata may be corrected during proofreading or transcription.

E) Inserting Content

1. Source images. Trained ConSource staff will upload source images into ConSource collections and sub-collections, which will be organized and named by the Director of Technology and members of the Research staff.

2. Images of existing transcriptions and corresponding OCR text. Trained ConSource staff will upload images of existing transcription(s) and corresponding text produced by OCR software into ConSource collections and sub-collections, which will be organized and named by the Director of Technology and members of the Research staff.

3. Digital text versions of existing transcriptions. Trained ConSource staff will upload approved digital text transcriptions into ConSource collections and sub-collections, which will be organized and named by the Director of Technology and members of the Research staff.

F) Cleaning Content

1. Scanned images. Certified source images will be instantly viewable in the ConSource Library. Certified transcription text to accompany the source image(s) will be created on ConSource by approved transcribers and verifiers. Images will be placed into a transcription queue, where approved transcribers will produce a raw transcription which will be reviewed and edited by more-qualified verifiers. Dedicated scholars who choose to use ConSource for scholarly transcription will be able to further verify and annotate certified text. The National Volunteer Coordinator is responsible for ensuring that enough transcribers and verifiers are recruited and appropriately trained to produced reliable transcribed texts. The National Volunteer Coordinator will then ensure that transcribed content is 99% accurate either via automated means or by personally spot-checking the content.

2. OCR text from images of existing transcriptions. To be certified, transcriptions that originate from images of existing transcriptions must be proofread twice by approved proofreaders. The National Volunteer Coordinator will ensure that enough proofreaders are recruited and appropriately trained to proofread the content. The National Volunteer Coordinator will then ensure that proofread content is 99% accurate either via automated means or by personally spot-checking the content.

G) Cross-Referencing Content

1. Suggested Cross-References. Cross-references between transcription text and the Constitution or other topical indices may be suggested by any user of ConSource. To increase the quality of cross-reference submissions and value of the ConSource Library, the National Volunteer Coordinator or a Legal Research Fellow designated to the task will ensure that law students, graduate students familiar with the clauses of the Constitution, and other individuals with expertise in the Constitution are recruited and appropriately trained to cross-reference ConSource collections.

2. Approved Cross-References. Suggested cross-references will be reviewed by individuals, such as Constitutional scholars, approved directly by the Academic Advisory Board or by a qualification method permitted by the Academic Advisory Board. If such individuals approve a suggested cross-reference, it is included in the official ConSource Constitutional Cross-Reference Index.

a. Qualification method. The Research Associate and National Volunteer Coordinator will identify and confirm the credentials of potential Constitutional Cross-Reference Approvers and present them to the Academic Advisory Board for consideration. If the individual is approved, the Chair of the Academic Advisory Board will extend an official invitation by letter and the National Volunteer Coordinator will provide training. Cross-Reference Approves will be asked to donate one hour per month, usually focusing on a specific collection related to their expertise.