Great idea, but if the SHTF i would worry about information coming from one central point.

What about a torrent-type idea where pdf files could be hosted, and made available for the masses, less chance of a simple dns re-direct. You could establish a trusted name, and then verify the identity of the files distributed via torrents. You would probably attract more trust and attention this way, as people like me would not worry about tagging my home ip with visiting such a site.

I would focus more on building this as a source for distributed hosted files, as opposed to a central repository. More trust, lower hosting costs, less hassle and more robust in situation x environment.

Just my thoughts

oh, and look at ning.com

first rule of programing, don't re-invent the wheel