Documentation

Download

Click on https://ecacorpus.eu/misc/ecac.zip

Unzip and click on index.html, the only file in the root directory, no installation is required. The zip files contains only data, no programs; it is Portable Web Package (PWP), essentially a directory structure viewable with web browser. The ECA Corpus can also be explored online at https://ecacorpus.eu; both, downloaded and online, are identical, as long as they have the same timestamp.

Overview

A single zip file can contain the full structured data of an organisation such as ECA since its creation in 1977; ECA is a good example for this exercise. The zip file contains: tabular data, full text of the files (eventually), and generated reports with graphics. Anyone can simply unzip the file and:

• Explore it locally on their computer with any browser.
• Load it on a web server to explore it online.

Deeper analysis using both current and future technologies can be envisaged. For example:

• Studying the full text of reports, not only their descriptions.
• Creating SQLite databases to facilitate further analysis; indeed, the whole ECA Corpus could be packaged as one SQLite database.
• Running traditional data analysis or modern methods such as AI.
• Building tools such as vector databases to search or analyse the documents.

Data structure

A dossier represents a publication or other document types. Each dossier is identified by a unique dossier number. There are two main components:

Register

The Register is the list of dossiers. It is a table containing the dossier number, title, and several additional fields. Once the Register has been cleaned and completed, its data will later be integrated into the Store. Currently, the https://ecacorpus.eu website is generated from the Register.

Store

The Store contains the full text of each dossier in all available languages and formats. It is organized as a directory structure with a root folder named store, which contains a set of numbered folders; each folder corresponds to one dossier. At present, the Store consists of an empty skeleton directory structure, ready to receive full-text files in all languages and formats. All texts should be converted to plain text to facilitate further processing and ensure long-term preservation.

If a dossier corresponds to a section of a larger document, only the relevant sections should be included. For example, in the case of the Official Journal C139/1979, only the material from page 15 concerning ECA should be included. Each opinion should be copied to the appropriate dossier, as this issue of the Official Journal contains six opinions.