| Because the plea rolls were digitized while still bound, the front and the back of the individual membrane are disconnected and in different folders. That disconnect produces some academic concerns: navigating the site, citation form, and website stability. |
| Finding a particular membrane cited from the original document. Navigate by using the thumbnails of the images. On the thumbnails the reader will usually but not always be able to identify markers that indicate every tenth membrane (usually but not always a black foam bar placed horizontally on the membrane or a blue or purple paper rectangle) and every fiftieth membrane (usually but not always a rectangular document weight or a red paper rectangle). Those markers are the best way to reach an approximate location for a particular membrane being sought. Since each membrane requires one to five images, simply counting the number of images is less reliable. The markers for tenth and fiftieth membranes are more vital for the dorses, because the dorse membranes do not have page numbers at the bottom of the membrane. When trying to locate a membrane that has been cited from the original document, one can thus relatively rapidly locate the desired membrane within two or three membranes. Occasionally the marker was omitted from the proper location, so occasionally there are twenty membranes or 35 to 45 images between markers. |
Citing to a case found in this database.
An author should always cite not the original document but the source actually used. Since this digital archive is actually much more accessible, there is a distinct reader benefit to citing to these images. Moreover, with the dorses, asserting with confidence the membrane number would occasionally be difficult. In a publication citing to these images, an initial note should specify that such references relate to this website. A suggested form for this initial note is
"Citations to National Archives documents (CP40, KB27, E368, E159, JUST 1, C33 [etc as relevant]) refer to the digital archive assembled by Robert C. Palmer and Elspeth K. Palmer, The Anglo-American Legal Tradition available at aalt.law.uh.edu/aalt.html, hereafter AALT."The correct citation form for a web file is its full address, even when that address is ungainly. Thus the form for individual citations would be "CP40/355 AALT 4180 (1348), http://aalt.law.uh.edu/E3/CP40no355/bCP40no355mm1dto100d/IMG 4180.JPG"unless citation conventions develop to provide a more economical form. From the images and the markers, a researcher who wants to access also the original document will be able to find it. The author may want to add also the precise membrane number for the front membranes or an approximate number for a dorse. |
| Website stability.
This website is established for stability. The O'Quinn Law Library is thus the licensee in the permission by the National Archives. Also, the website is independently funded with sufficient resources to provide for ongoing maintenance and replacement of the server in the future. The funding after the purchase of the original server was $90,000, a sum that can only be used for ongoing maintenance and server replacement. It is therefore safe to cite to images in this website. Additional funds will be transfered annually into the fund as available, to be used to accelerate acquisition of material for the site. |