What the file checks against

Every card lists its sources in the right-hand rail, and every card says what the file does not claim. This page describes the kinds of sources the file uses and what each kind is good for.

Standards and test data

For species and materials the file leans on public references: national forestry and timber publications, standards for grading and moisture content, and laboratory data on density, shrinkage and movement. These are good at describing typical material. They do not describe your board: two boards of the same species, cut from different hillsides, behave differently.

Conservation records

For old houses the file uses conservation practice: government guidance on historic buildings, reports from foundations that dismantle and re-erect kominka, and the technical literature of Japanese joinery. These documents record what worked over centuries. They rarely test alternatives, so the file treats them as the floor of knowledge, not the ceiling.

What the file does not do

The file does not run its own laboratory, does not inspect buildings, and does not certify anything. Where a judgement depends on the specific board, beam or house, the card says so and stops. An entry that cannot be checked is not written.

Corrections and removal

Readers who hold a better source, or who find their own name or photograph where it should not be, can write to the desk. Corrections are entered on the card itself; removals are honoured when the request is genuine.