An address, not a decimal number.
The Archive uses a custom hierarchical classification path designed to expand without ambiguous decimal ordering or forced renumbering. A classification describes where a record sits in the catalogue structure; it does not declare whether the record or its claims are true.
This is read as a sequence of fields — 623, 04, 01 — not as the decimal number 600.20:10:01.
Working pattern
AAA.BB:CC[:DD…]
| Rule | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Separated fields | The three-digit collection field and each following two-digit field are independent hierarchical components. |
| Fixed-width siblings | Sibling fields are zero-padded where needed, so :09 sorts before :10. |
| Additional depth | Extend with another two-digit field, e.g. 700.20:10:01, rather than consuming another three-digit collection number or appending ambiguous digits. |
| Collection root | The three-digit AAA field identifies the major collection. Subject depth is expressed after the separator: AAA.BB:CC:DD…. Sibling three-digit numbers are not implicitly subclasses. |
| Gaps permitted | Unused addresses may remain empty. The index is not required to form a continuous sequence. |
Classification is not accession identity.
A classification path describes a record's present relationship to the catalogue hierarchy. A stable accession identity may remain independent of that path, allowing later reclassification without rewriting provenance or revision history.
Dates, evidential confidence, truth status, publication status and provenance quality are never encoded into the classification path. They remain explicit catalogue properties.
The first field establishes evidential context.
The leading classification value identifies the kind of record being addressed. These collections may reference one another, but crossing a collection boundary does not change the evidential status of either record.
| Range | Collection | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
000.xx:xx | Administration | Classification rules, schemas, indices and catalogue administration. |
100.xx:xx | Universe Records | Sources and artefacts that exist in-universe. Their existence is recorded without assuming every claim they contain is true. |
400.xx:xx | Development Records | Factual records of creating the work: concepts, experiments, superseded material, production notes, outtakes, bloopers and ephemera. |
600.xx:xx | Model Records | The current working interpretations and constraints used to construct and test the universe. |
700.xx:xx | Factual References | External real-world publications, research, technical reports and other factual sources consulted by the project. |
750.xx:xx | Fictional & Cultural References | External fictional and cultural works retained for comparison, influence and design context. |
Other three-digit collection roots remain deliberately unassigned until an archival need establishes them. In particular, 701–749 and 751–799 are not subclasses of the reference collections merely by numerical proximity.
Current Station architecture has a permanent model address.
The 600.20 branch contains the current working architectural model of Logos Station / the Solar Habitation Complex. These addresses classify design knowledge; individual documents and drawings may carry separate stable accession or drawing identifiers.
| Path | Subject |
|---|---|
600.20:05 | General engineering doctrine and cross-system design principles. |
600.20:10 | General arrangement, scale and global geometry. |
600.20:20 | Rotation, artificial gravity and reference frames. |
600.20:30 | Primary structure, rings, segmentation and structural interfaces. |
600.20:40 | Inner-rim geology, geological support and pressure-bed systems. |
600.20:50 | Atmosphere, environmental retention and illumination cycle. |
600.20:60 | Energy collection, distribution, thermal management and rejection. |
600.20:70 | Transport, access, transit interfaces and vertical crossings. |
600.20:80 | Habitation geography, zoning, settlements and occupied environments. |
600.20:90 | Maintenance architecture, redundancy, sacrificial systems and fault containment. |
Deeper fields are assigned only when a real design record requires them. For example, a pressure-bed design record may extend beneath 600.20:40; the index does not pre-populate those children merely for symmetry.
An address may be cited without becoming related in return.
Records may cite one or many classification addresses using typed references such as supported-by, derived-from, influenced-by, supersedes or contradicts. A reference states something from the perspective of the record making it.
The referenced record acquires a catalogue backlink — referenced by — but not automatically a reciprocal semantic relationship. Where a relationship genuinely carries meaning in both directions, its inverse may be explicitly defined.
supported-by → 100.21:04derived-from → 400.22:06supersedes → 600.12:05
Multiple references may operate independently, jointly, or as a mixed set in which each source contributes a different part of the conclusion. Reference count is not evidential weight.
Disagreement is preserved, not silently resolved.
A contradiction reference should identify the scope of disagreement wherever possible. Two records may conflict over one date, name or claim while corroborating one another elsewhere. Contradiction therefore need not apply to an entire record.
There is also a provenance distinction between a source assertion and an archival observation. If an in-universe source explicitly disputes another source, that assertion belongs to the source record. If the incompatibility is discovered only by comparing independent evidence, neither source is rewritten to claim a dispute it never made; the observing Model or administrative record owns the comparison.
observes-contradiction [joint]→ 100.53:08#C04→ 100.53:11#C07aspect: closure date
Claim-level suffixes such as #C04 are provisional notation. They demonstrate the requirement for addressable claims without yet fixing the final claim-address syntax.
The matrix grows from evidence.
The notation is established, but the Archive does not pre-fill numeric classes merely to make the index appear complete. Major classes and subdivisions will be documented here as real accessions make their boundaries useful. An empty address is capacity, not missing content.
Classification is searchable.
The catalogue search accepts complete addresses, branch prefixes and * wildcards. A query such as 600.20:90 returns descendants of that branch; *.20:40:* may be used to compare the same structural position across collection roots.