How to upload photographs, documents and multimedia files

The following file types are supported:  

• Photographs: .jpg, .jpeg, .png 
• Documents: .pdf 

Media must be uploaded as a separate archive entry using the add entry button before it can be associated with a person or aircraft.

1. Click the add entry button  
2. Select the add media category.   
3. Chose User uploaded document or User uploaded image 
4. Locate and select the file from your device’s file explorer. 
5. Complete the form with as much information as possible.  

 Advice 

• Alternate text: Provide a short description of the image. This is important for accessibility as it is used by screen readers and displayed when the image is not loaded. 
• Captions: Give a brief description of the document or photograph and its contents. Captions are important as they help other researchers find material that they may be interested in.  
• Information to include: where and when an image was taken and who took it or who authored your document and when. If you have the names of the people, aircraft or places mentioned or depicted then include this information as well.  

If you do not have the information to complete everything at this stage, you can leave it out.  

You can always return to edit media later. You may also find other contributors come along and complete it. 

Multi-media content must be embedded from an external source before it can be added to the American Air Museum’s archive.   

Make sure your file has been uploaded to YouTube or Vimeo, both are free to use.  

1. Click the add entry button  
2. Select the add media category.   
3. Chose User added remote video  
4. Paste the URL into the box provided 
5. Complete the form with as much information as possible. 

 Advice 

• Alternate text: Provide a short description of the image. This is important for accessibility as it is used by screen readers and displayed when the image is not loaded. 
• Captions: Give a brief description of the document or photograph and its contents. Captions are important as they help other researchers find material that they may be interested in.  
• Information to include: where and when an image was taken and who took it or who authored your document and when. If you have the names of the people, aircraft or places mentioned or depicted then include this information as well.  

If you do not have the information to complete everything at this stage, you can leave it out.  

You can always return to edit media later. You may also find other contributors come along and complete it.  

The photographs, documents and multimedia in our archive come from various sources. The information in the record may not have always been entered accurately. Bear this in mind when browsing and help us to improve the archive by correcting errors and typos where you spot them. 

1. Locate the media record you want to edit 
2. Click the edit button 
3. Use the form to complete missing information and make changes to most of the information input by other contributors.   

Advice 

• Do not overwrite or delete other’s contributions as far as possible unless you are correcting typos and spelling errors.   
• If you think another contributor has made a major mistake and you need to remove information they have shared, try to explain the changes you have made and why in the source message  

You can always return to edit information later. You may also find other contributors come along and make changes. 

Media must be uploaded to the archive before it can be connected to a person or aircraft record

Connections link records together. Media appears on all records it is connected to.  

1. Locate the media record you want to edit 
2. Click the edit button
3. Open the connections tab and select the type of connection you want to make
4. Search and select the record from the list
5. Click use selected to create a connection

To help others understand and find the media you have uploaded it is important that you only make connections to subjects which you can confidently identify are depicted or mentioned in the media, for example: do not connect a studio portrait of a person to an aircraft record.

Media must be uploaded to the archive before it can be connected to a person or aircraft record

Connections link records together. Media appears on all records it is connected to.  

1. Locate the record you want to add media to 
2. Click the edit button 
3. Under Media click Associate media 
4. Click the image tab to search images uploaded to the archive, or the document tab to search documents uploaded to the archive
5. Choose the media from the list you want to associate  

To help others understand and find the media you have uploaded it is important that you only make connections to subjects which you can confidently identify are depicted or mentioned in the media, for example: do not connect a studio portrait of a person to an aircraft record.

The featured image is the first media item shown on a record, it will also appear as a thumbnail across other pages in the archive.   

1. Locate the record you want to add media to 
2. Click the edit button 
3. Under Media click and drag the image you want to feature to the top of the list

The featured images of American servicemen and women who died while flying from Britain during the Second World War also appear on the American Air Museum's Roll of Honour. 

The source message is the most important field to complete when adding or editing media records in the archive. It is compulsory on all record types and must be completed before saving any changes you have made. 

On media records, the source message is there for you identify and attribute the original creator of the photograph, document, or multimedia clip, and how you came by it.  

When you upload media, please make sure that if you did not author it yourself, you have permission from the person who did. 

Advice

• Fill in the source message as completely as possible, it cannot be edited later. 
• When you upload media, please make sure that if you did not author it yourself, you have permission from the person who did.  
• If you are sharing media from your family collection, you could add something as simple as ‘these images came from my father’s wartime scrapbook.’   
• If you have accessed historical documents or photos, online or in an archive, it is best to list both the title of the document, and where you looked at it.