Free source-first field guide
Start with identity. Then follow the evidence.
A seven-part research pass for documenting what an artwork is, where it may have been, which sources support each claim, and where the record still stops.
01 · Object identity
Preview the checklist
- Can you identify the object without assuming the answer?
- Are titles copied exactly, with language and source?
- Do dimensions, medium, support, marks, and labels agree?
- Are contradictory identity features recorded before two records are merged?
The download continues through ownership and custody, claims and evidence, gaps and searches, rights and reuse, AI and human review, and reproducibility.
A seven-part research pass
One question leads to the next.
Each stage creates evidence the following stage can inspect instead of hiding uncertainty inside a finished-looking narrative.
- 01
Object identity
Establish which object the records describe and preserve collisions.
- 02
Ownership and custody
Model transfers, possession, agency, exhibitions, and repositories as distinct events.
- 03
Claims and evidence
Split conclusions into atomic claims with quotations, source locations, and certainty.
- 04
Gaps and searches
Name unsupported intervals and log negative searches without turning absence into proof.
- 05
Rights and reuse
Track rights for artwork, image, metadata, and text separately.
- 06
AI and human review
Bound the evidence packet, require citations or refusal, and keep consequential decisions with people.
- 07
Reproducibility
Retain stable references, retrieval dates, corrections, unresolved questions, and limitations.
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No account or email is required for this download. The file is delivered directly; downloading it does not enroll you in a course or create a research account.
A research aid
What this checklist cannot decide
It is not authentication, appraisal, title verification, legal advice, a rights clearance, a restitution decision, or a provenance guarantee. Qualified people remain responsible for those judgments.
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