diff --git a/HACKING.md b/HACKING.md
index c9ceb0dd1c2ef85f36f4a70e18cf7270f6555813..6f125f47aef33de926f40d7f09ba25a690e5a99f 100644
--- a/HACKING.md
+++ b/HACKING.md
@@ -38,3 +38,18 @@ links on getting VMS FORTRAN running on a Linux/Unix system:
     using a proprietary tool called FTP. Need to contact them about
     licensing.
   * Things to [look out for](http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/225).
+
+## Recreating the timeline
+
+Some thoughts on this. Use announcements for the commit messages. Review
+the code to figure out something like a changelog. Commit the
+converted/unpacked raw code in one commit (with author set to Mark London,
+given the right date, etc); add additional files like a README.md and
+a ChangeLog in a follow-on commit with the author of those files.
+
+The code commits should have the following elements.
+
+  * Source: zip file name, decuslib url, original path in that zipfile.
+  * File listing with date info.
+  * Announce text.
+  * Any additional notes.
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 73fcf04597ea43370e95ebae2a0454b0ed67fa60..61fbf96385ccd4bc1bd576b06a2f46b82deeb166 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -5,13 +5,20 @@ local VAX/VMS cluster.  It eventually went away due to security issues.
 But I was thinking it might be fun to recreate.  First though I'd like
 an historic git repo that covers the early years.
 
-This repo is not it.  It's where I attempt to recreate it.
+This branch is where the gathering of the files was done and where they
+were converted into more usable formats. The `historical` and `master`
+branches contain the actual timeline of the code.
 
 ## Who wrote it
 
 First, git commits need an author.  It would be nice to figure out
 the author.  The version I used I suspect was written by
-[Mark London](http://web.mit.edu/london/www/home.html).
+[Mark London](http://web.mit.edu/london/www/home.html). There were
+contributions by others. I'll attempt to track those as much as I can.
+
+Releases back then did not have commit messages or changelogs. However
+there do seem to have been some announcements and the code does note
+some of the contributors.
 
 ## Where to find BULLETIN