What is go.reckon.co.uk?
Our site http://go.reckon.co.uk/ provides:
- A shortcut maker similar to http://tinyurl.com/.
- A set of tools to access ECJ judgments and some other documents.
- A way of mitigating link rot.
All these services are provided in the hope that they might be helpful, with no promises or warranties. Mistakes happen.
Shortcut maker
Anyone can use http://go.reckon.co.uk/ to create short and easy-to-email URL that links to a long URL.
Shortcuts look like http://go.reckon.co.uk/xxx. They are resistant to punctuation and other mild distortion: it does not matter if your e-mail programme considers a full stop or a closing bracket to be part of the go.reckon.co.uk URL.
If you dislike the concept of an URL starting with something other than www, changing go.reckon.co.uk to www.reckon.co.uk in the shortcut URL will usually work (unless it conflicts with something else on www.reckon.co.uk).
Redirection tools
http://go.reckon.co.uk/ has some tools to find certain classes of court documents and items in the Official Journal of the European Union. Anyone can use these tools.
As well as the forms on http://go.reckon.co.uk/, you can enter go.reckon.co.uk addresses in the correct format directly, for example:
- http://go.reckon.co.uk/case=T-60/05 (judgment)
- http://go.reckon.co.uk/ago=C-288/07 (Advocate General)
- http://go.reckon.co.uk/ted=123456/2007 (tender notice)
Link rot mitigation
URL for which a go.reckon.co.uk shortcut has been made are occasionally "watched" by our systems. When a broken link is detected, the system will examine our archives to see whether the content referred to might be available elsewhere (this uses cryptographic hashing techniques to enable a large database of files to be searched for matching content). If there is a match, the system will create a notification for Reckon staff suggesting the change. Amendment of the link in the go.reckon.co.uk database is subject to approval by a human (usually Franck).
This system enabled Reckon's links to Ofgem documents to be restored quickly after Ofgem decided to change it website and break every link. Other sites with serious link rot problems on which this feature is or has been useful are those of the OFT, DTI/BERR, WICS and Department for Transport.
The same systems also underpin the arrangements for providing access to our backups which we set-up to enable our users to access Competition Appeal Tribunal judgments during the CAT's 2008 website outage.
Contact
Contact Franck Latrémolière if you have any questions about go.reckon.co.uk.
