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Archive contributor support and updates
This page is aimed at contributors who may already be familiar with sharing information and photographs on the American Air Museum's archive. If you're a new contributor to the archive, look at our user guide to get started.
We have moved the American Air Museum's archive database onto a new content management system which enables us to better preserve the stories within it. This gives us greater flexibility to improve how researchers update and explore this information in future
These changes mean that you may find some features now work differently.
Updates to archive functions
Making connections
For now, you can only make the following associations between records.
People records can be connected to:
- Other people
- Aircraft
- Places
- Units
- Missions
- Media
Aircraft records can be connected to:
- Other aircraft
- Places
- Units
- Missions
- Media
Units records can be connected to:
- Commanding officer(s)
- Places
- The junior units within the command hierarchy
- Media
Missions records can be connected to:
- Places
- Media
Places records can be connected to:
-
Media
We are planning an update to improve the number of connections which can be made between records
Media associations
You can no longer make associations to other records while uploading media. You can only associate media while editing archive records
- Open the edit form using the edit entry button
- Under the media accordion select associate media to chose the image(s) you want to associate
We hope this may encourage users to make relevant connections between records and media.
We are planning an update to improve the number of connections which can be made between records
Featured images
The featured image is the first media item shown on a record, it also appears as a thumbnail across other pages in the archive.
You can only choose a featured image when editing a person, aircraft, place, or unit record. Look at our guide to editing records for more help.
- Open the edit form using the edit entry button
- Under the media accordion click select featured image
We will be working to reinstate key image cropping to help identify subjects within media as part of a future update.
Please do not upload cropped versions of original crew or group photographs
Updates to archive content
New terms
We have updated the terms you can input into different record types.
New People terms
- Person category: Mascot
- Person events:
- Married
- Training
- Prisoner of War
- Evaded
New Aircraft events
- Assigned
- Damaged
- Ditched
- Salvaged
New Place types
- Prisoner of war Camp
- Memorial
- USAAF heritage site
New Unit history terms
- Assigned
- Designated
- Inactivated
- Disbanded
Connections to Air Forces
You can no longer associate people or aircraft records to the following:
We have done this to improve the historical accuracy and quality of the data in our archive.
Individual airmen and aircraft were not generally assigned directly to one of the combat air forces. Official documents most commonly list the units (group and,or squadron) they belonged to, this is also the information researchers are most interested in finding out.
If you wish to identify people or aircraft who served under the command of one of the combat Air Forces you can use the 'By Air Force' filter.
Award cards
We no longer accept copies of Air Force award cards, and will remove them if they are uploaded to our archive.
These already are freely available from the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). Please do not duplicate them in our archive.
Please list medals using the 'awards' form field. You can also link directly to an airman's award card(s) at NARA in the source message.
Colourised images
Modern colourised images are generally 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. By adding colour retrospectively, the artists may have intentionally, or inadvertently changed the mood of an image, affecting how viewers perceive it.
We also do not permit modern artistic interpretations such as scale models, aviation art, and air show photography for the same reasons.
Terms of use
We are committed to ensuring the American Air Museum's archive is fast, accurate and performs well. We love working with our community of contributors, but please bear in mind we reserve the right to make changes to our archive, including the entries and services we offer, without notice.
Read archive terms