Preservation Log
Milestones in the life of the archive itself — founding, growth, loss, recovery, and the intention to continue for as long as there are Alastairs worth documenting.
- 2006November 2006Founding
Archive Founded
A single observation — that surprisingly few people are named Alastair, and a surprising number of them are worth reading about — becomes a small, deliberately-kept collection.
- 2009Growth
Collection Expanded
The archive quietly doubles, then doubles again. The first international entries are added and the Primary Field taxonomy is introduced.
- 2014Milestone
Correspondence Begins
Readers begin submitting Alastairs of their own. A parallel folder of submissions is opened; a review process, of sorts, takes shape.
- 2019Loss
Original Website Lost
The original hosting environment quietly disappears. Much of the archive survives only in backups, printed clippings, and the curator's notebooks.
- 2024Recovery
Archive Recovered
Work begins on reassembling the archive from surviving materials. Each restored entry is re-verified against public sources before it is returned to the collection.
- 2026July 2026Recovery
Digital Restoration Completed
The third edition of the archive is released — a considered rebuild in the style of a museum catalog, with formal Archive IDs, documentation sources, and Curator's Notes on every record.
- —Future
Future Milestones
The archive is intended to continue — quietly, carefully, and for as long as there are Alastairs worth documenting.
The archive is intended to keep going. Milestones will be added as they occur.