This page records gaps in the public Year → Issue archive without converting leads into evidence. An item remains unresolved until an original issue, message header, attachment, masthead, distribution notice or reliable institutional capture is recovered and verified.
Highest-priority targets
- 大参考 / Dacankao FAQ v2.0 dated March 14, 1998.
- The original bignews.org archive index, masthead and issue files.
- 大参考 / Dacankao No. 1 and the earliest distribution notices.
- 小参考 / Xiao Cankao Nos. 1–43.
- Original files and verified dates for registered issues Nos. 233, 269, 339, 418, 437, 463, 467, 474 and 705.
Preservation rule
Original files and headers are preserved where authorized; normalized searchable text is derivative access material and must retain provenance back to the preserved carrier.
Return to the VIP Reference Historical Archive
Preserved FAQ lead
A preserved Google Groups posting exposes a version-history footer for the Dacankao FAQ: version 1.0 (October 17, 1997), version 2.0 with Chinese notes (March 14, 1998), and version 3.0 (January 4, 1999). This is a recovery lead, not yet the verified original FAQ carrier or complete issue file.
Inspect the preserved posting. The archive must still recover and verify the original headers, complete FAQ text, and historical file path before promoting it to canonical primary evidence.
1997 origin evidence: September 17, 1997 first formal Dacankao transmission is supported by retrospective editor testimony; original carrier/header recovery remains open.