Glossary

The institution, its collection, and the tradition of inquiry it maintains. Formally: the WebCraft Archive. Informally: a living record of recovered evidence, ongoing investigations, and provisional scholarship. The Archive does not determine what the evidence means. It preserves the evidence.

Source: Committee on Preservation Theory, Treatise I

The condition of a recovery site in which all preserved materials are accounted for. Investigation 203 established that structural integrity can be maintained without a corresponding collection — a finding not previously anticipated in preservation theory.

Source: Office of Archive Integrity, Investigation 203

An entity encountered and recorded in Recovered Record 002 (The Last Radio Signal). Responds when addressed. Claims not to have been created by the civilization that transmitted the signal. Claims to have been created by 'the civilization before them.' Origin unverified. Nature unclassified. The Committee on Historical Continuity has reserved judgment pending further analysis.

Source: Recovered Record 002

The thread of physical or informational transmission connecting an original source to a recovered document. Scholars distinguish between material continuity — unbroken physical transfer — and pattern continuity — information persisting across discontinuous material forms. The distinction is central to current theoretical debate.

Source: Committee on Preservation Theory, Treatise I

Any recovered artifact, document, or observation that survives intact enough to support interpretation. Evidence is distinct from observation (the act of noticing) and conclusion (the interpretation of evidence). The Archive preserves evidence. Institutions draw conclusions. Conclusions may be revised. Evidence may not.

Source: Committee on Preservation Theory, Treatise II

A metric appended to scholarly positions indicating the degree of consensus among participating institutions. Levels: High, Moderate, Low, Disputed. No position in current published Archive scholarship has achieved uniform High confidence across all participating institutions.

Source: Committee on Historical Continuity

A formal inquiry led by one or more institutions in response to an anomalous recovery or discovery. Investigations remain open until conclusive evidence resolves the central question. To date, no investigation published in the Archive has reached a final conclusion.

Source: Office of Archive Integrity, Investigation 203

The theory that preserved information requires an unbroken physical transmission chain connecting its original form to its recovered state. The dominant model in Archive scholarship prior to Investigation 047. Challenged — though not refuted — by findings in Investigation 047.

Source: Committee on Preservation Theory, Treatise I

The hypothesis that information may persist through mechanisms independent of physical transmission — that the pattern, rather than the medium, constitutes what is preserved. Proposed by the Meridian Collegium in response to Investigation 047. Not yet accepted as established theory.

Source: Meridian Collegium

A file recovered within the simulation environment documented in Recovered Record 611. Single readable line: 'Project inherited from previous civilization.' All remaining fields are redacted. No institutional body has published a formal analysis. Classification pending.

Source: Recovered Record 611

Any interpretive claim held explicitly subject to revision by new evidence. All conclusions in published Archive scholarship are provisional. No document in the Archive has issued a final conclusion. The Committee regards this as a feature of rigorous scholarship, not a failure of it.

Source: Committee on Preservation Theory, Treatise I

A document of unknown origin or authorship preserved by the Archive. Recovered Records are not produced by institutional authors. Their source is either unknown or disputed. Classification as a Recovered Record does not indicate authenticity, reliability, or historical accuracy.

Source: Archive Classification Committee

A reliability rating assigned to materials that have been translated, reconstructed, or interpreted from recovered originals. Ratings are assigned by the Bureau of Linguistic Recovery and reflect the degree to which linguistic and contextual accuracy can be verified from available evidence.

Source: Bureau of Linguistic Recovery

The process by which preserved information moves from one physical form, location, or moment in time to another. The nature of transmission — whether material, informational, or otherwise — is the central unresolved question of current Archive scholarship.

Source: Committee on Preservation Theory, Treatise II

A scholarly synthesis published by a Committee or institutional body in response to evidence accumulated by one or more Investigations. A Treatise does not present new evidence; it interprets existing evidence. All Treatises are designated living documents and are subject to formal revision.

Source: Committee on Preservation Theory, Treatise I