We have had this lovely machine since before 1990 that I was always told was to punch the holes. It’s very good at punching holes but there’s no guidance mechanism to ensure they are in the right place.

 

It’s too well-made to throw away…

 

 

 

Optical Coincidence Cards –

 

Looking at my previous explanation, I may have got the process reversed (I only used it for a short time in the 1980s as a cross check of our 'computerisation' process).  A more detailed explanation of the OC system is available at

 

http://nzetc.victoria.ac.nz/tm/scholarly/tei-Bio18Tuat03-t1-body-d1.html

 

In that it suggests that you make a card for each index-able item (e.g. each parish), then punch out the box corresponding to the SMR number for sites that fall in that parish in that index card.  You do the same for other cards for period, site type, site form, map sheet, etc.  Then to undertake a search, you pull out the index cards relevant to your search and superimpose them all over a light source.  You will then will see light shining through the holes for the SMR numbers that have entries for each index term.  That sounds more sensible and workable for ordinary searching, once you've made the investment in creating the index cards in the first instance.

 

I do remember having to check entries card-by-card at one point, but this may have been an error-checking process, not a data search …

 

Peter Iles

 

 

Dear All,

Our old Border Burghs Archaeology Project (BBAP) proto-SMR did something similar with that. The old seven digit number was district-parish-type/period-site specific and for some further digits for component monuments, like a hut circle of a hillfort. The type/period part seems rather loosely defined (only as 1 to 3) and we are now a unitary authority, so no districts.

Looking at the entry for 1150060 at the moment, but it should really be 1-15-0-060 (and is now the much simpler 342210 and Site Number NT64NE 37). The cards didn’t have any holes for such in however – we have scans of them all.

These numbers seem to be typed into the original SMR and also GIS tables, so occasionally prone to mistypings – one of the benefits is that you can often tell if an errant site because the district-parish parts wrong. (See the HER Forum jiscmail for my presentation last year dealing with such challenges and the current Borders polygonisation project if you are interested).

We are all similar, but also different; it will be interesting reading Stewart Bryant’s HER histories project (but that just England – a Scottish equivalent study equally interesting I think).

Best wishes,

Keith

A Keith Elliott
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Hi All.

 

The "system indexed by a crude system of holes in the cards" is probably what was known as 'Optical Coincidence Cards' – we had one in Lancashire in pre-computer days.  Basically they are cars with a grid of boxes each with a code number. You allocated one column of boxes to a particular key field, e.g. parish, and then set up a list of the parishes, each with its own number referring to a box in that column.  For each SMR entry you then created a card and punched out the corresponding box.  The same card would also have boxes punched out for the other key fields for that particular record.  They looked like large versions of the punched cards used for early computer programming, and which sometimes appear in old films for personnel records, etc.  I think our cards were pale yellow, but they've been put in the Archives now.

 

To search the record you got a new card and punched out the boxes that corresponded to that query e.g. all records in Parish 126 [Ireby] with General Period 1 [Prehistoric] and Specific Periods 3-6 [Early-, Mid- and Late Mesolithic, plus 'generic' Mesolithic].  By holding the query card in front of the SMR cards one by one you could see which cards (and therefore SMR entries) fulfilled your search conditions by lining up the holes  – this quickly became very tedious. 

 

For larger databases this system was only practicable with a machine to do the checking and selecting which particular person in the organisation was skilled in the identification of Greek pottery, spoke Hungarian, could ride a horse and was qualified in unarmed combat.

 

Pete Iles

 

 

Hi Folks and Happy New Decade to you all.

 

I am starting to work out the niceties of accessioning our NRHE records, now the data is available, and have a query. Whilst it is related to the NRHE to HER project, its (possibly) more generally about OS recording, so thought I would post here in case anyone knows about that.

 

Anyway, in trying to make sense of our records so I can update them correctly, I have come across a reference to a Yellow Card (first sports pun gets sent off….)

 

It is in the context of our own card files, which appear to be based on OS information and in one example the card reads

 

“NY83SE3 Foundations, found by OS local Correspondent” and an NGR.

 

But enigmatically at the top of the card it also says “Info from Yellow Card” so I was wondering – was the Yellow Card part of the OS reporting process does anyone know? Perhaps a preliminary card before it was accepted into the system?

 

As described, this doesn’t match with anything on the Pastscape record (http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=16159 ), so I’m assuming that means that the info did not make it onto the OS card (or possibly ever had one).

 

To further confuse matters, the source for the Pastscape record (for which I also read – the OS Card) is given as the Archaeology in the North Gazeteer (ANG) , but according to the ANG, the site came from the OS record cards.

 

So we have a nice loop where the ANG is based on the OS card, but as transcribed into the NMR, the OS card seems to be based on the ANG…(which leads to another possibility that the Yellow Card is related to the Archaeology in the North Project, but I have no way of checking that – as who knows where that archive went…?)

 

Anyway, might just be a Durham foible, with the explanation lost in the mists of time, but if anyone knows more about Yellow Cards, or the Archaeology in the North Project (which included Cumbria, Northumberland, and Tyne and Wear) which might shed light on this, please let me know

 

tar

 

best wishes

 

Nick Boldrini

Historic Environment Record Officer

Archaeology Section

Heritage, Landscapes and Design Team

Environmental Services

Regeneration and Local Services

Durham County Council

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