I began ACTS almost two decades ago, with text in Wordstar, data in dBase III, and research from that exciting and excited generation of Canadian theatre scholars who flourished from the 1970s onward. Thanks to continuing research contributions from theatre historians and the generous patronage of UNB's Electronic Text Centre, I have kept this research site reasonably up to date. Now, a decade into retirement, I feel that I no longer have sufficient mastery of the evolving technical skills needed to sustain the text and data bases at the heart of this site.
In the best interests of the site, I have decided to step back from it. This means that, while the site will remain a source of primary Canadian theatre research from those early days up to around 2007, I will not be adding more research to the site. Nor will I be upgrading the binary engine behind this research. The site's need for technical updates - perhaps most obvious in its search engines need for string variations, a general transition to XML, and a new content management system - will remain until some future site board steps in to continue this project. I would be very happy to hear from any group of scholars or any institution interested in so doing.
As the site evolves from active to archival, I trust it will remain something of a monument to those many scholars whose names are linked to various research areas within it. And that ACTS itself will stand as a mirror of Canadian theatre's vitality from its earliest days to the present.