Just dump the list archive to DVD in 
text format, by month/year 

It would be cool to filter it and have it
nicely categorized, but that would be 
a 'labor of love' and defnitely a long 
drawn out and difficult undertaking.

Most modern OS'es have search and
indexing capabilities that are quite good.

If files are already in categories/folders, 
you could run something like "BloxSom"
which on the surface looks like a 'weblog' 
but in reality could be used as an effective
 'personal hierarchy' browser.
 (see the link below)

  http://www.blosxom.com/documentation/users/view.html#time

I've got some resources to take a stab at it
but dont want to hammer the  server 
(gerry.vanagon.com) to  download the
whole thing.

If this sounds interesting, then let me
know.

thanks in advance.. 

 -tim