Moderation of the American Air Museum's archive

The data in our archive comes from various sources, we are aware that there are duplicate records.
 
Please help us to identify duplicate records if you find them.

1. Decide which record should be the master (this is usually the one with the most information)
2. Transfer any additional information from the duplicate record(s) into the master record
3. identify the duplicate record(s) to be deleted by adding 'DUPLICATE' to the end of the last name field 

Admins run regular searches for duplicate records identified in this way and can delete them for you.
 

The data in our archive comes from various sources, we are aware that there are duplicate images.
 
Please help us to identify duplicate images if you find them.
 

1. Decide which media record should be the master (this is usually the one with the most information)
2. Transfer any additional information from the duplicate record(s) into the master media record
3. Identify the duplicate record(s) by adding them to the collection 'Duplicate images'

Admins run regular searches for duplicate images identified in this way and can delete them for you.

Certain fields have data validation applied. This helps to make sure the data in our archive is comprehensive, and the information is standardised. This helps to make our information more discoverable.

Data validation rules

People

• Names cannot contain numbers, punctuation or special characters.
• 'Unknown' cannot be entered into any part of a person's name.
• 'NMI' cannot be entered as a middle name. 
  • We are aware that similar conventions are used in US military administration, but these do not reflect a person's legal or given name.

Aircraft

• Aircraft serial numbers must be unique.
• Aircraft nicknames cannot be entered in quotation marks .

Images, film and documents

• Media records must have a caption.
• Images must have alternate text. Alternate text describes the image for people who use screen readers, and the data is crawled by search engines to make the image discoverable. 

It is not possible to associate people or aircraft records to the following types of units:

• Air Forces (e.g. Eighth Air Force, Ninth Air Force)
• Commands (e.g. VIII Bomber Command, IX Fighter Command)
• Divisions (e.g. Second Air Division, Third Bomb Division)
• Wings (e.g. 65th Fighter Wing, Second Bomb Wing)
   

While they may be affiliated with the above, individual airmen and aircraft were assigned directly to smaller units: most often groups and, or squadrons. These subordinate units are also most commonly listed in official documents and the information researchers are most interested in finding out.  

You can use the 'By Air Force' filter to search people or aircraft who served under the command of one of the combat Air Forces. 

Error messages

Some records still contain illegal connections, and cannot be updated until these have been removed. In these cases, you will receive the error message: 'This entity (node XXXXXX) cannot be referenced'

We realise the error message is unclear and are currently working to display it in plain English. 

It is possible to check which record is causing the problem by copying the node reference number (displayed in brackets) inserting a slash between the node and number and adding it to the end of the website URL in a new tab (e.g. americanairmuseum.com/node/465832) which will take you to the problem page. 

Once the connection to the problem record has been removed you should be able to save the record as usual.
 

Air Force award cards will be deleted if they are uploaded to the American Air Museum's archive.

These records are already freely available in the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) catalog. 

Medals can be listed using the 'awards' field. You can also link directly to an airman's award card(s) at NARA in the source message. 

Modern colourised images are not permitted in the American Air Museum’s archive.  

We realise these offer a vivid depiction of historic people and events, but the colours have been added long after the photograph was originally taken.

Even after meticulous research, by adding colour retrospectively, the artists may have intentionally or inadvertently changed the image in ways that affect how viewers perceive it. 

We only accept colourised photographs if they were hand-coloured using traditional mediums (e.g. paint or dye) at the time they were created. 

There are many lively and passionate groups and forums dedicated to modern colourised photographs of the US Army Air Forces, where this content can be shared. 

Scale models and aviation art are not permitted in the American Air Museum’s archive. These works are artistic interpretations, they are not a first-hand record of events.

Even after meticulous research, the artists may have intentionally or inadvertently changed the subject in ways which affect how viewers perceive it.

There are many lively and passionate groups and forums dedicated to showcasing artistic interpretations of the US Army Air Forces, where this content can be shared. 

Air show photography is not generally permitted in the American Air Museum's archive unless it depicts an aircraft in its original configuration or livery. 

Airworthy vintage military aircraft ('warbirds') have been heavily modified for compliance with modern flying regulations. Many of them are airframes with no Second World War service history, that have been painted to resemble different and more famous aircraft with combat history. 

There are many lively and passionate groups and forums dedicated to warbird photography where this imager can be shared. 

The American Air Museum's archive accepts images of memorials located in the UK and Europe, but not the United States.

We also do not accept images of memorials which are not related to the period of the Second World War.

We adapt the definition of a war memorial used by IWM's War Memorials Register to inform the types of memorials we accept in the American Air Museum's archive. 

While we accept images of temporary burials and the process of casualty repatriation back to the US, we do not accept images of permanent grave markers.