Three dates can all be real
A photograph can depict an event decades before it was scanned, and a later export can give the file another modification date. A timeline may choose one of these values. Before correcting an apparent date error, identify what the displayed field represents. Changing every file date to a guessed event date can destroy useful provenance.
Write what you know and how
A private note can sayapproximately 1985,identified by a family member,orlocation unknown. Keep recollection separate from a documented inscription. If descriptions conflict, record both possibilities until better evidence appears. You do not need a complete family history to create a useful archive, but you should avoid converting a plausible guess into a confident public caption.
Check what survives export
A caption stored in an application may be absent from a downloaded image. Test a representative export and inspect its accompanying files or notes. Keep an ordinary readable description alongside the archive when important context is not embedded. Do not assume another gallery interprets every metadata field in the same way.
A fictional annotation
A photo is believed to show a holiday in 1978, scanned in 2020 and exported in 2026. Record those distinctions rather than choosing one date for all purposes. The sharing caption can sayholiday, late 1970s if that is all the evidence supports. The private archive note can retain the scan source and the uncertainty so later identification does not require reconstructing the whole chain.
Use an uncertainty convention
Choose readable labels such as exact, approximate and unknown, and explain them in the archive readme. Keep the event date separate from the digitization or export date when that distinction matters. A later helper should be able to improve the description without first undoing a confident guess. Do not turn recollections into precise dates simply because a gallery sorts more neatly when every field is filled.
Sources used for this page
These records support the facts and comparisons above. Merchant-controlled records are labelled so you can separate product claims from independent evidence.
- Library of Congress: personal digital photographs — Research study · digitalpreservation.gov · Publisher independence not verified · checked 2026-09-28