Department of Research and Records (History)

General

After the 2004 Admin Meeting, the first incarnation of the Department was created under the name Department of Research and Communications. Then, in 2006, the department was split into two new departments, the Department of Research and the Department of Communications. The name was changed back to the Department of Research and Communications in 2009. In 2011, the department's name was formally changed to the Department of Research and Records to better reflect the range of their duties.

2004

With the creation of the new department, two directors were hired, one for each section of the department. Adriana al'Tere headed Communications, and Lyssandra Darai headed Research. At this point in time, the Tar Valon Times was under the purview of the Director of Communications.

2005

Atarah al'Norahn became the new Director of Research. The goal of 2,500 articles in the Library was passed during this year. The position of Classroom Assistant, then filled by Pip al'Dealys became the moderator of the Classroom forum.

2006

During this year, the Department of Communications split from Research and became its own department. Atarah al'Norahn continued as the director of the Department of Research.

2007

Ismene Gillandred became the new director of the department. The position of Classroom Assistant was renamed Headmaster/Headmistress and was filled by Kethaana Nia Khamara. The Assistant to the Director of Research changed hands from Kyria d'Oreyn to Elia LePhant.

During this year, the department focused on creating new stub articles for topics that had no entry in the Library. The creation of the Wiki for the Library was very successful and saw an influx in visits.

2008

Toral Delvar became the new Assistant to the Director of Research. More stubs were added to the Library, and wiki categorization was expanded during this year. The main page of the wiki was updated highlighting the two main sections of the Library – book content and site content.

2009

During this year, Toral Delvar became the director of the department, and Shara Nevan became the Headmistress. Vivianna L'antreau became the Historian. Eniara Kisharad became the Assistant to the Director of Research and Records. With the addition of the position of Tower Voice to the department, the name was changed back to the Department of Research and Communications, and the Department of Communications was dissolved.

2010

With the creation of the Department of Marketing, the position of Tower Voice was transferred to this new department. The position of Tower Historian became a dual role with two people being hired, Xylianna Paladina and Kerna Shedrian. Later in the year, Loira al'Ramoidra replaced Xylianna.

The moderation and maintenance of the main book forums was transferred to the Department of Moderators.

Many new additions were added to the Wiki, including extensive pages for each Community Group; information for each Department; pages for Community Events; and community statistics such as the Time Served pages.

2011

The decision was made to formally transfer the site’s “Who’s Who” section to the already established Member Pages in the Library. With the addition of this new duty, the department’s name changed to the current Department of Research and Records.

Staffing changes during this year included Aryela Dashtahd becoming the Headmistress, and Zimone Zarasri taking one of the Tower Historian positions.

Member pages were edited to reflect individual histories, including tower positions held, awards won, and events attended.

2012

Kitan Tataru replaced Kerna Shedrian as one of the Tower Historians.

Job descriptions for every Tower position were added, and the Time Served pages were completed.

2013

With the release of the final book in the Wheel of Time, the department added many new articles to the Library during this year.

2014

Charis Delphi became Headmistress during this year and Bryher al'Venna replaced Zimone as one of the Tower Historians.

2015

The Companion was released during this year, and the Library was specifically referenced in the beginning as an impressive reference of Wheel of Time detail.

The chain of command for the department changed from the Keeper to the Archivist. Toral Delvar became the new Archivist and Kerna Shedrian became the director of the department. Nyavene al'Meer became one of the Tower Historians and Eniara Kisharad took on the role of Events Historian.

2016

With the disbandment of the Department of Administration two of its positions were added to the department – the Annual Reports Project Manager and the Membership Survey Project Manager. There were a few changes to the Historian positions, as Jeffan Caliarthan replaced Bryher as Tower Historian, and Sailea Nerid became the Awards Historian.

2017

In the middle of this year, Chiyuki Nohara joined the team as a Tower Historian, and Izabella Serra became the Awards Historian.

2018

Tallan Daar was chosen as the new Director of the Department of Research and Records in September of this year. Elia LePhant replaced Nyavene as Tower Historian, and Imzadi Hopewind became the new Events Historian.

2019

After serving as Headmistress for several years, Charis Delphi stepped down and Atarah al'Norahn took up the reigns. Ilverin Matriam and Alexstrasz Ruskein also joined the team as the new Awards Historian and Events Historian, respectively.

2020

In March, the Annual Report Project Manager position was dissolved and its responsibilities transferred to the Keeper role.

In April, Tallan Daar resigned as Department Director and was replaced by Atarah al'Norahn. Atarah in her turn was replaced as Headmistress by Dovienya el'Korim. Later in the year, Tallan instead became Tower Historian after Elia LePhant left the position.

In October, Ilverin Matriam succeeded Atarah as Director.

In December, Xander Silverstar and Aleita Taviah joined the Department as the new Awards Historian and Headmistress, respectively. Elanda Tonil resigned as Survey Project Manager, and was not replaced; tranferring the responsibility for future membership surveys to the executive level. The year ended with Chiyuki Nohara stepping down as Tower Historian, and the position reverting to being a one person job.

2021

In February, Aleita Taviah left the Headteacher position to take over the Department of Marketing. With the new hiring post it was announced that the position will transition to a rotating 18 month long term. Calen Velervron and Fee Nicoin were hired to jointly run the Classroom after that. In October Fee stepped down, and Calen continued as sole Headteacher until he was hired as one member of the Board of Directors. Therefore, in December the Headteacher hiring post ran again and two new people joined the Department - Atane Valthon and Ajailyn Morrivinna.

After the release of the Wheel of Time Television Series in November, the Library Editors began creating articles on it - episode summaries, character and place summaries, etc.

2022

In 2022, the Department of Research and Records released a Library Manual, which houses helpful articles about how the Library is structured and how to edit Library articles, TarValon.Net or Wheel of Time related. With that manual was also released a finalized (up until that point) Manual of Style for the Library articles that have to do with the Wheel of Time, either book or television series. Such a manual had been a question for a while, so it was decided that having an official document for future editors would be helpful.

With the release of the Manual of Style, a new official Editor position within the department was introduced. Throughout the rest of the year eight people were hired.

There were no new seasons released of the Wheel of Time television series, therefore the according articles have only been filled with information by the end of Season 1.

The position of Survey Project Manager (and the Survey Team) were officially disbanded and a new position of Reports Manager was created directly reporting to the Keeper.

Xander Silverstar and Alexstrasz Ruskein left their Historian positions in the later part of the year, and the positions remained vacant.

2023

The position of Editor was changed to a position which is need of constant hiring, so that people can apply at any point through the year.

The Media Historian position was created, with Thaddius al'Guy being hired to fill the role in March. At the same time Leala ni al'Dareis t'al'Caleum became the new Events Historian. Leala left the position in November, and it remained vacant.

2024

In March, Ilverin Matriam resigned as Director and was succeeded by Bryher al'Venna.

In April, Dovienya el'Korim stepped down as Headmistress.

In June, Grond Sothron was hired as new Events Historian.