January 20, 2008

Website opens archives

Hundreds of reports on proceedings at the Christchurch Court House over the last two years are being opened up for the Court News website archives.

The reports have been stored from freelance reporting at the Christchurch courts but now they are being gradually transferred to the website.

?We hope the archive will be a useful resource for people wanting to look up cases,? said reporter David Clarkson.

?It will also be a resource for people wanting to make checks. I understand prospective employers often Google a name to see what comes up. This archive will add to that process.?

Visitor numbers are increasing steadily for the website which began in November. It was quickly picked up for Google?s list of indexed news sites which is directing many visitors to the court reports.

?We are aiming to give Christchurch people easy access to reports from their Court House,? said Clarkson. ?It?s a busy place and what goes on there is full of interest.?

Clarkson has been working as an agency and freelance reporter for two years providing coverage from the courts.

His reports from that time are now being used to enlarge the archive.

?It is all material that has been published somewhere already ? it has either gone out on the Press Association network or it has been published by an individual newspaper ? but having it all together and searchable makes it much more useful.?

About half of the available material has been transferred to the website during the last month, and more is being processed daily.