How the archive works

The archive lifecycle

1. 1

   Material is submitted

   A contributor uploads a photograph, document, story, correction, or identification.

2. 2

   Original enters quarantine

   The original file is preserved untouched in secure quarantine before anything else happens.

3. 3

   Security & processing checks

   Security review runs; viewable derivatives, thumbnails, and structured metadata are generated separately.

4. 4

   Advisory suggestions

   Metadata extraction, OCR, and AI descriptions are generated as advisory hints only — never automatic fact.

5. 5

   Context & evidence added

   Contributors or staff add sources, tags, dates, venues, and supporting evidence.

6. 6

   Reviewers verify

   Reviewers check rights, sources, identities, and duplicates within their authority.

7. 7

   Publication gates evaluated

   Publication-readiness, rights-clearance, and security gates must all pass.

8. 8

   Authorized content published

   Only gate-cleared, source-backed records become public.

9. 9

   Corrections keep history

   Later corrections are versioned and audited — the full history is preserved.

10. 10

    Reversible, never deleted

    Records can be tombstoned or rolled back without any physical deletion.