Frequently asked questions

I have come across errors in the transcriptions. Would it be useful to pass this on to you?

The transcription of the text was largely automatic. At the time when the REPUBLIC project was carried out, the level of text recognition technology was such that the margin of error for both handwritten and printed text was very small. However, the transcriptions do contain errors here and there. The way in which the transcriptions were processed does not allow for easy correction of individual errors. You therefore do not need to report them to us. It is conceivable that we will make an improved version of the transcriptions available in the future, but it will never be completely error-free. In order to also find words with transcription errors when searching, we recommend always searching with wildcards.

I see that not all resolutions are properly separated from each other. Would it be useful to pass this on to you?

The segmentation of the text was largely automatic. In the current version of the transcriptions, this has not yet been done correctly everywhere, which means that resolutions that should actually have been separated from each other are now offered as one resolution. Particularly for the earliest resolutions, the segmentation is challenging because the resolutions are less uniform. If you find resolutions that have been pasted together, we would appreciate it if you could send us the URLs by email. This will help us to improve the segmentation in a possible new version.

Why can’t I find resolutions that were taken between August 1576 and May 1577 and between April and December 1578?

The resolutions from these periods are currently missing in Goetgevonden. These resolutions have not yet been included because they are not in the National Archives, but in the collection of the Royal Library. We expect that they will be added in the course of 2025. Until then, you can consult the earlier editions of the earliest resolutions.

Why does the date assigned to a resolution in Goetgevonden differ from the date of the session on the scan?

Due to a problem with the automatic text segmentation, the date assigned to many handwritten resolutions currently differs by one day from the actual date of the session on which the resolution was taken: for example, if a session took place on 20 January 1652, the resolutions of that session are assigned the date 19 January 1652. Please keep this in mind, also when you click on a reference to another resolution in the transcripts. This will result in a search showing all resolutions taken on the date mentioned in the reference. For example, if a resolution is referred to that was taken on 20 January 1652, it may not be found in Goetgevonden among the resolutions of 20 January, but it is among the resolutions of 19 January. We expect this problem to be solved in the course of 2025.

Can I also access the data via an API?

Yes, that is possible. The Goetgevonden API is available via api.goetgevonden.nl. More information will be available soon via this website.