The archive itself
- Imperial War Museum collections - Odyssey Project Archive, object 1030013062 - the catalogue entry for the collection, confirming storage "for an official re-opening in the year 2101".
- The Royal Star and Garter Homes records at Archives Hub - the charity's wider records, 1915-2010.
The royal record
- royal.uk Court Circular, November 2001 - "The Duke of Kent, as President of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, this morning received the Odyssey Timeship Project, a record of wartime reminiscences, from the Royal Star and Garter Home at the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth Road, London SE1."
- Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II's letter of 14 February 2001 - in the artefacts collection.
The original site
- odysseytimeship.com, September 2001 - the Internet Archive's earliest capture of the home page.
- All captures of odysseytimeship.com - the ticket office FAQ, contact, terms and patron letter pages were captured repeatedly during 2001-2002.
Press and publications
- The Royal Star & Garter Homes Centenary Book, 2016 - the project features on page 53 of the charity's centenary keepsake.
- York Press - "Calling all forces veterans"
- Telegraph & Argus - "Save your war tales in charity archive, urges former Para"
- The Bolton News - "Haven for service veterans"
- Navy News carried a full write-up during the voyage year.
The people
The project was an initiative of The Royal Star and Garter Home (Registered Charity No 210119), run through Star and Garter Promotions Limited, in association with Abbey National plc; computers for the project were provided by Qick plc. The digital platform was delivered under Ashlawn Data Systems Ltd as prime contractor, with the design, build and operation outsourced to OpusVL.
This record site is maintained by the project's technical architect and lead, Stuart J Mackintosh, now with Open Digital - the contact for any enquiries about the project or this record.
At the November 2001 handover: HRH the Duke of Kent, President of the Board of Trustees of the Imperial War Museum, received the records; Falklands veteran Simon Weston CBE presented them; Dame Vera Lynn supported the ceremony. The launch evening guests included Sir Michael Caine and Dame Thora Hird.
Digital preservation context
The archival thinking behind the Odyssey - open formats, open source, independence from any vendor - predates the frameworks that now formalise it:
- OAIS reference model, ISO 14721 - first published 2002, the year after Odyssey launched.
- Smithsonian Institution Archives - recommended preservation formats - "open, standard, non-proprietary, and well-established".
- Software Heritage - the UNESCO-backed archive of the world's source code, founded 2016.