Editorial policy

Sources, images, and corrections

This policy applies to the core object, place, collection, and learning pages published in the October 2026 release.

Source priority

ArtifactView begins with the original holding or managing institution record. Accession numbers, dates, materials, dimensions, credit lines, and repository details are transcribed conservatively and linked back to that record.

Observation and interpretation

Visible features are described as observations. Museum cataloguing is attributed to the institution. Editorial inference is signalled with cautious language and does not replace a source.

Uncertainty

Unknown fields remain unknown. Date ranges are preserved. Original location, production place, findspot, present repository, and display location are not collapsed into one field.

Images and rights

The first-release core images come from The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Open Access program and were marked public domain in its public collection API on 8 October 2026. Each page includes alt text, an institution credit, and a link to the source record. Rights status should be rechecked before redistribution because source records can change.

Affiliation

ArtifactView is independent. Citing an institution or using its Open Access media does not state or imply a partnership, review, or endorsement.

Corrections and revision

Correction requests should identify a page URL and supporting source. The editor reviews the institution record first, changes the page when warranted, and records the reason and date for material revisions.

Legacy content

Earlier regional collections and research essays have been withdrawn from display and replaced by noindex archive notices. Their old URLs remain only for transparent link resolution; they are excluded from primary navigation and the sitemap until rebuilt from page-level institution records and reusable media.

Policy published 8 October 2026.

Curator's evidence filepolicy / SOURCES-IMAGES-AND-CORRECTIONS

Sources, images, and corrections

This policy applies to the core object, place, collection, and learning pages published in the October 2026 release.

Evidence register
ObserveDescribe material, form, marks, wear or spatial relation without assigning identity or purpose. Begin with “Source priority.”
ContextLocate the record in excavation, collection, restoration and display history. Check the chain against the page sources and linked institutional records.
InferBegin with observable features, connect each inference to a source, and mark the point where evidence gives way to a plausible but revisable interpretation. Tie every attribution to the feature that supports it and retain competing readings.
WithholdDo not extend “Observation and interpretation” beyond the date, sample, comparison or provenance actually documented.

Provenance checkpoint

List each custody or documentation gap separately; an unknown interval is evidence about the record, not permission to invent continuity.

Catalogue note

ArtifactView begins with the original holding or managing institution record. Accession numbers, dates, materials, dimensions, credit lines. Mark later repairs, labels and digital reconstructions as later interventions rather than original features.

Research-room prompt

What single comparison object, technical test or archive entry would most change the interpretation of Sources, images, and corrections?