01
Public source authority
The AFU-hosted public archive is the authority for material exposed through the public search. Private working trees and local match reports are not publication sources.
Research transparency
Know what the data can—and cannot—tell you
This site connects public archive files, searchable OCR, catalogue metadata, mapped records, and reviewed citation links. Those layers have different levels of authority. The interface keeps their provenance visible so researchers can check the underlying source.
Methodology reviewed 11 July 2026
02
OCR is a finding aid
Indexed page text can contain recognition errors, damaged characters, incorrect word breaks, and missing text. Search snippets help locate a page; researchers should verify quotations against the scanned document.
03
Evidence links have status
A reviewed page mapping is stronger than an issue-level or search-hit link. Search hits can guide a researcher to likely evidence without proving that a printed citation and PDF viewer page are equivalent.
04
Raw and inferred fields stay separate
Original catalogue or UFOCAT values are preserved. Normalized geography, automated page signals, coordinates, and extracted fields remain distinguishable from raw evidence and should not silently replace it.
05
Publication rights are checked
Builds consult the current source-rights registry. When narrative republication is not allowed, public outputs are limited to permitted metadata, attribution, and links rather than source prose.
06
Automation is reviewable
Generated packages are reproducible and audited for local paths, private notes, unstable links, and invalid page mappings. Model-assisted extraction remains subject to schema, quality, evidence, and publication gates.
Reading the interface
A practical evidence ladder
- Public PDF: the preserved source document available from AFU.
- Reviewed page link: a checked alignment to the relevant PDF viewer page.
- Text-validated search hit: source terms were found in indexed page text, but printed-page equivalence may remain unreviewed.
- Issue-level link: the cited issue is resolved, while the exact page or passage still needs review.
- Automated signal or inferred field: useful for discovery and filtering, not a substitute for source verification.
Recommended workflow
Search, inspect, verify, then cite
Use the search and map to find candidate material, open the linked evidence page, confirm the information in the scan, and retain the stable archive or case link with your notes.