Archive operations · Field guide 01
How to audit a public-agency photo archive.
Before choosing software, find out what you actually have: the files, the descriptions, the systems around them and the people carrying the archive in their heads.
Start with a map, not a cleanup
An archive audit is evidence gathering. Renaming folders, deduplicating files or importing everything into a new application may feel productive, but those changes can erase the clues you need to understand provenance. Begin read-only. Record where collections live, who controls them and how staff currently retrieve an image.
Create an inventory row for every storage location: shared drive, workstation, removable disk, legacy catalog, cloud folder, optical media and offline backup. For each, record an owner, approximate size, file count, date range, accessibility, backup status and known restrictions. Mark estimates as estimates. Precision can improve later.
Pass one: inventory the files
Capture formats, extensions and obvious variants. Separate originals, edited masters, derivatives, thumbnails and previews when you can. Do not assume the largest file is the original. A renamed JPEG may be the only surviving publication master; a RAW file may lack the caption and crop that made the photograph useful.
Flag duplicates by more than filename. The same name may refer to different photographs, while the same photograph may appear under many names. Cryptographic hashes can identify byte-identical copies, but visual similarity and metadata comparison are needed for resized or edited versions.
Pass two: sample the metadata
Select a representative sample, not just the cleanest folder. Include old and new work, multiple photographers, published and unpublished images, files with missing originals, controlled subjects, sensitive locations and records that staff can find only from memory.
For each sample, compare what appears in the file with what appears in its catalog or spreadsheet. Check identifiers, caption, creator, creation date, location, subject terms, rights, restrictions and collection membership. NARA’s guidance for digital photographic records calls for a unique identifier, caption, photographer and rights information, among other descriptive and technical metadata. The IPTC Photo Metadata Standard provides interoperable fields for many of these values.
Pass three: map the system around the images
An archive is more than a directory tree. Document the catalog application and version, database location, preview cache, sidecar files, storage mounts, login dependencies, scripts, export routines and backup jobs. Record whether a system can still open, search and export the collection. Save screenshots of unusual settings and export options.
| Area | Evidence | Common risk |
|---|---|---|
| Files | Counts, formats, hashes, storage paths | Unknown originals or silent duplication |
| Metadata | Embedded fields, sidecars, catalog exports | Descriptions trapped in one database |
| Systems | Versions, dependencies, permissions, backups | One aging workstation is the only access path |
| Knowledge | Interviews, naming rules, retrieval habits | Meaning leaves when a staff member does |
Pass four: capture institutional knowledge
Ask staff to retrieve five known images while you observe. What terms do they search? Which folder names are meaningful only locally? Who knows that “BRP” means a specific restoration project rather than a location? Which collection should never be published because it reveals a sensitive site?
Document these rules as data or policy candidates. A good audit distinguishes facts attached to individual assets from conventions that apply to an entire collection. It also exposes decisions that need an accountable owner.
The useful output is not a count of photographs. It is a risk map: what can be found, what can be trusted, what depends on one person and what could disappear next.
Finish with a decision-ready report
Summarize totals and uncertainties; identify the most valuable collections; list unsupported systems and missing backups; describe metadata coverage; and quantify a small validation sample. Recommend actions by urgency: stabilize at-risk media, preserve catalogs and exports, document knowledge, then evaluate migration.
This article is operational guidance, not a records-retention determination. Agencies should apply their own records schedules, legal requirements and security policies.