Contact Information. ROA is managed by Natalie DelBusso. All correspondence should be directed to her at rutgers.optimality.archive@gmail.com

History. The Rutgers Optimality Archive began life in 1993 as a command-line anonymous ftp server constructed by Alan Prince, who has continued in various administrative and design roles. In 1996 a web interface was put together with the help of Mike Strickland (then a high-energy graduate student, now a high-energy physicist), who wrote the original search, delivery, and upload scripts. Eric Bakovic (Rutgers 2000, currently Professor of Linguistics at UCSD) assumed responsibility for day-to-day management of the Archive and oversaw its operations until 2014. At that point, Natalie DelBusso, then a graduate student at Rutgers, now a graduate, took on the role of administrator.

Document files were archived in the server-cluster of the Rutgers University Cognitive Science Center (RuCCS) and all scripts were hosted by webslingerZ, an internet business solutions provider. In the Spring of 2001, spurred on by difficulties in the RuCCS system, the ROA website received its first major overhaul. In 2002, the hardware was replaced, and in 2003 Paul de Lacy rewrote the software and added bibliographic and author-related functions, with Graham Horwood participating in the web design. A mild hacking incursion in 2011 forced the temporary shutdown of the Archive. It was replaced for a year with an html-only site that kept all files available and allowed upload via email request. In 2012 a fully re-written version was mounted on the secure servers of Rutgers University's School of Arts and Sciences (SAS), which has provided invaluable material and technical support for the enterprise throughout its existence.

Staff
Administrator: Natalie DelBusso
Consultant: Eric Bakovic
Capo di tutti i capi: Alan Prince