Digitization of Written Parliamentary Questions from the Historical Archive (1974–1977) of the Hellenic Parliament

This article outlines the digitization process and methodology applied to the archive of parliamentary questions from the 1st Parliamentary Term (1974–1977) in the Hellenic Parliament. A collaborative pilot project involving parliament, academia, and a research center facilitated the conversion of printed material to open data. The main tasks of the project include capturing digital images, a custom Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software solution employing machine learning, and rigorous validation for accuracy of a fragmented and of variable quality polytonic corpus in a variety of modern Greek language called Katharevousa. The article discusses the approach and challenges as well as the initial results of the digitization effort, emphasizing ongoing research steps. Overall, 1,674 images were digitally processed corresponding to 1,338 questions. Following algorithmic training, character recognition accuracy is over 98.5%. Successful implementation streamlines further similar digitalization operations in the vast parliamentary archives, while enabling in-depth studies on parliamentary control in the turbulent period of the immediate post-junta era in Greece. A preliminary comparative analysis with a corpus of newer parliamentary questions (2009–2019) provides insights and incentives for the further study of the characteristics and evolution of the Greek language.