Attempted Murder and Conspiracy: The "Lemon Syrup" Case

"Attempted Murder and Conspiracy: The "Lemon Syrup" Case" is an exhibit documenting the details of an Australian case from the late 19th century in which a man was acused of poisoning his wife (http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/public/gallery/lemonsyrup/title.htm). George Dean was tried for attempted murder, found guilty, pardoned, and then again arrested after a confession. Included in this exhibit are judges notebooks, legal reports, and photographs of Dean.

1) Selection Decisions

Documents digitized for this exhibit include many pages of notes from both lawyers and judges, as well as from the Royal Commision Inquiry. From the description of the exhibit, it appears that these documents only represent a small portion of the paperwork created around this case. Only legal documents are included. It is stated that there was a lot of press associated with this case (and therefore many articles) but these are not included in the exhibit.

2) Metadata

There is a introductory passage for the exhibit explaining the significance of the material, but the metadata provided with the individual images is brief. Included are the document series numbers, the author of the document, a brief description of its contents, the page number, and the date. Dates are missing from the photographs. The data does include all necessary series numbers, which would allow for further research.

3) Object Characterisitcs

The images are listed on an index screen, along with their metadata. Each image is shown as a thumbnail on the left side of the screen, with the metadata listed on the right. Clicking on the images enlarges them. The enlarged image is opened in the same screen, and there is a link to return to the index page. Clicking on the thumbnail is the only way to enlarge these images, and there is no zoom tool to enlarge specific text. When you click on the image to enlarge, the metadata is no longer shown (which leads to some confusion in what you are currently viewing). I feel the images would be better viewed in a flash site, to allow for easier maneuvering of the images. A zoom tool is definitely needed for these images.

4) Intended Audience

The intended audience of this digital collection appears to be viewers with some familiarity with the case. There is a brief description of the events, but the images are not paired with much explanation of the legal jargon. This site would be useful to a patron who is aware of the events of the case, and has an interest in the legal workings behind it.