Digital research is strongest when every screen claim can return to an exact institution, object and dated source.
Begin with the whole silhouette
Compare base, overall proportion, breaks, associated elements and visible mount before decorative details. Crops of faces, cartouches or coffin surfaces can detach the feature that distinguishes one object from another.
Control viewpoint
Identify front, profile, reverse, top or oblique view and check whether an image has been mirrored. Opposite profiles can look like different objects; a mirrored derivative can reverse inscription order and attachment position. Record transformations.
Inspect stable marks cautiously
Losses, joins and distinctive contours can help match images, but lighting and restoration may change their appearance. Use several features together and confirm the identifier. Do not diagnose damage from screen pixels.
Read file metadata at the source
Use the original image record for creator, date, license, description and full resolution. Search thumbnails often strip these fields or attach a page caption from a surrounding article rather than the file itself.
Separate object and image dates
The ancient or historical object date, photograph date, upload date and page update date belong to different timelines. Label each one. An old photograph can document a previous display without making its caption current.
Check the component
A close image may show a lid, inner coffin, fragment, cartouche or reconstructed section. Match it to the parent record before using the broader object title. One tomb or owner can generate many related but non-interchangeable images.
Keep derivatives traceable
Store the original source URL, creator, license, crop, resize, compression and filename map. A local WebP is a convenient reading copy, not a replacement for the source record.
Caption the match
State which visible features and identifiers connect image to object, then list unavailable views. The caption should let another reader audit the match without trusting the editor’s confidence alone.
Use a claim ladder
Separate direct screen observation, institutional identification and wider interpretation. Each stronger statement needs an exact matching source. Similar images and repeated web text can guide a query but cannot replace provenance, technical evidence or accountable scholarship.
Preserve the negative result
Record missing identifiers, broken links, unavailable pages, contradictory dates and views that could not be matched. Digital research becomes more trustworthy when absence is searchable rather than silently filled by the nearest plausible result.
Audit the responsive page
Check the article at 360 and 1440 pixels. Ensure the complete object, source relation and caption remain readable, all local images decode and no crop removes the feature used for identification. Keep creator, license and source URL with every derivative.
Version the field note
Date every source check and gallery observation. When a page, attribution or display changes, add a correction rather than overwriting the earlier state. A change in online wording, physical installation and editorial interpretation are three different events.
Recover beyond the URL
For every important page, retain institution or author, exact title, object identifier, publication or update date and the field it supports. If the link moves, these values can recover the record through the museum site, catalogue or library search. A bookmark alone is not a durable citation trail.
Separate image rights from object data
The page that identifies an object may not own the photograph, and a freely viewable image may still require attribution or restrict reuse. Follow the image to its original file record, preserve creator and license, and document crop, resize and compression. Do not infer image permission from museum ownership of the object.
Write the handoff
Finish with the exact identifier, strongest current source, unresolved field and next query in four lines. This compact handoff lets another reader continue the research without reopening every tab or mistaking a provisional match for a verified object.
An online record can support identification and research. It cannot by itself confirm current display, visitor access, physical condition or every surface of the object.