thearchivist.funBuild a dossier for conflicting origin claims
Preserve competing accounts without making the interface pretend that an unresolved origin has one settled answer.
Context and provenance
Start with a narrow statement, such as who first attached a particular caption to a particular image. Create one row per competing claim. Include the claimant, precise wording, linked evidence, date of the evidence and the date you checked it. Separate a creator recollection from a surviving contemporaneous post; each may answer a different question.
Draw the dependency in words: account A cites article B, which cites post C. Three pages repeating C provide one source chain, not three independent observations. Keep a separate list of contradictions: incompatible dates, different crops, translation changes or a claim about a different variant. Record a missing page as unavailable, not disproved.
Write an interim conclusion with explicit boundaries. Explain which relationships are supported and which remain possible. Add a next action small enough for another researcher to complete, such as locating the earliest accessible copy of one post. The suggested dossier is an original research exercise; W3C PROV supplies useful vocabulary for describing objects, activities and agents, rather than guaranteeing the truth of a claim.
Sources and evidence
Editorial review: 2026-09-23. New evidence may change this account.