Download a PDF version of the Find & Connect Image policy (147kb PDF).
Review due by: June 30, 2018
Version: 2.0
Policy Steward: Find & Connect web resource Program Manager
Approved on: January 30, 2017
Effective date: January 30, 2017
Policy Approver: Program Operational and Research Team (PORT)
Status: Published
Objective
The Find & Connect web resource aims to facilitate access to records and information relating to the history of institutional ‘care’ in Australia. It is funded by the Department of Social Services as part of the Find & Connect Services and projects, and is managed by the eScholarship Research Centre (ESRC), University of Melbourne.
Photographs from children’s institutions are of vital importance to many Care Leavers.
The Find & Connect web resource aims to include at least one photograph related to each children’s institution entity on the website.
This policy sets out the protocols for selecting and describing photographs, and also for responding to feedback about photographs after they have been uploaded to the website.
Scope
The word ‘images’ in this policy refers to all digital image formats including both static and moving image content published on the Find & Connect web resource. It includes images used for both informational and illustrative purposes.
Rationale
Photographs are vital resources for Care Leavers, and digital images are of central importance to the Find & Connect web resource. The Senate’s ‘Forgotten Australians’ report (2004) asserted that ‘The lack of photographs and mementos is felt keenly by care leavers … Photographs are a tangible link to the past, to their lost childhood’ (p.255). Photographs, even of buildings, can be vital memory cues for Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants. For some people, images of Homes are as important and as treasured as a family album. For these reasons, the Find & Connect web resource aims to improve access to photographs relating to the history of institutional ‘care’ in Australia.
When selecting images for publication, and describing the context of these images on the Find & Connect web resource, there are a number of considerations that the website team takes into account, including:
- The potential that an image could ‘trigger’ and re-traumatise Care Leavers
- Respecting the personal privacy of people in images (particularly given that it is not usually possible to know whether children in photographs provided consent)
- Understanding that historical photographs of children’s institutions are not necessarily accurate representations of these Homes (many photographs were taken for publicity or fundraising purposes).
- Acknowledging that buildings used as children’s institutions may have changed function over time and may now be private residences – and that the privacy of people now living in those residences will be respected.
Policy
The Find & Connect web resource team source photographs of children’s institutions and other related image content, with the aim of having at least one photograph for each entry about a Home.
Related image content may include images of children who were residents of Homes; images of records about children, usually as examples of what you can expect to find within an archival collection; and images of other significant documents such as legislation.
Images are selected at the discretion of the Find & Connect web resource team.
The majority of images published on the website are already in the public domain, for example, there are links to photographs held in cultural institutions like state libraries and museums, or images that were published in newspapers. From time to time, people contact the web resource about the existence of photos in their own collections, so these images can be made available to the wider public.
To protect personal privacy we do not publish photos of homes that are still used to provide out-of-home care.
Many former children’s institutions later became private residences. The Find & Connect web resource contains some contemporary images of private houses which were formerly children’s Homes, where permission to publish the images has been given by the owners, or where the images are already in the public domain.
Image description
Data entry protocol for both descriptive metadata and source citation is in accordance with the Policy on the Words We Use, and standards and procedures set out in project documentation (see Appendix A: Digital Objects Protocols).
Image sources and derivatives
Sources will be provided for all images in accordance with the scope of this policy, including accurate citation wherever possible.
Images used solely for illustrative purposes – for example, as navigation tiles on the Information about Records page will not generally include source or descriptive information made visible on the webpage, although this may be included as image metadata.
Any Copyright known to apply to images will be clearly indicated.
The Find & Connect web resource team will create derivatives in the form of thumbnails for illustrative purposes only.
The Find & Connect web resource is a dissemination service not an image repository – the web resource does not host third party images if they are available elsewhere online. The web resource will link to the URL of the authorised source/repository for images, using persistent URLs where available.
Where images are not available elsewhere (e.g. offered from private collections that are not hosted online), the preference is to facilitate individuals depositing these images with a dedicated repository or image hosting platform. In cases where this is not possible, images may be hosted on ESRC’s servers at the University of Melbourne (along with the Find & Connect web resource).
As a dissemination service, the Find & Connect web resource does not make provision for or guarantee the long term availability or preservation of any images included on the website, although it does seek to maintain consistency of service through server backups and regular monitoring of broken links.
For images that are part of archival or library collections, where possible the Find & Connect web resource will link to a catalogue page that includes the image and relevant collection metadata (rather than direct to the image file).
The Find & Connect web resource does not prescribe or warranty any particular formats or quality standards due to our reliance on third-party hosting (as they will all have their own policies).
Images hosted on internal file share:
- The preference is to link to images that are externally hosted, however, this is not always possible. For example, on occasion the Find & Connect web resource team have received and taken copies of photos or other records from individuals (with their permission).
- The Find & Connect web resource team does not hold the originals, and returns them to the owner. Copies of images are stored securely and backed up on the ESRC’s servers at the University of Melbourne.
- The Find & Connect web resource team creates thumbnails of images for illustrative purposes which are also stored securely and backed up on the ESRC’s servers at the University of Melbourne.
In 2011, permission was obtained from record holding institutions to create thumbnails of images for use on the Find & Connect web resource. A draft letter and the list of institutions is stored on the ESRC’s secure share drive (see Appendix C: Template for permission to create thumbnails, and list of organisations). The individual responses to those emails are stored securely and backed up on the ESRC’s servers at the University of Melbourne.
Feedback, takedown and complaints
If, in the course of using the web resource, users find images which:
- Infringe copyright (as advised by the copyright holder),
- Depict images of abusers (as advised by survivors of abuse or their representative),
- Depict facilities currently providing out-of-home care, or
- Depict private residences in a way that could breach the personal privacy of owners (as advised by the current owner)
they may contact the web resource (using the Feedback page) so that the content may be flagged for review.
The web resource team will acknowledge the request for review in writing within five business days, and will make an assessment of the request. The person lodging the issue will be kept updated of actions taken by the web resource team in response to their request and the reasoning behind those actions. This includes reasoning for any decisions made, including if the web resource team does not take action as a result of the request.
Requests for take down of published content, and the outcome, will be registered in the project Complaints register. This register is stored securely on the eScholarship Research Centre’s servers at the University of Melbourne and can be viewed on request, subject to privacy considerations.
Where images are removed from the web resource as a result of a request for review, page(s) located at the relevant URL will include an advisory notice to that effect (see Appendix D: Statement where disputed content has been taken down from the Find & Connect web resource).
In the event that a person is dissatisfied with the response to their feedback regarding the Find & Connect web resource, or with any dealings with the Find & Connect web resource team, they may lodge a formal complaint.
The Find & Connect web resource complaints procedure is available on the website under About – Feedback.
The Find & Connect web resource team may also at any time remove image content from the website at their sole discretion, for operational reasons, or in response to other feedback.
Appendix A: Digital Objects Protocol
The Digital Objects Protocol is part of the Find & Connect Data Entry manual, and can be provided on request.
Appendix B: Content Warning
The Content Warning is available on the Find & Connect website under About – Content Warning.
Appendix C: Template for permission to create thumbnail images (and list of organisations contacted)
The template for permission to create thumbnail images and the list of organisations contacted is stored on the ESRC’s fileshare and can be provided on request.
Appendix D: Statement where disputed content has been taken down from the Find & Connect web resource
The following statement will be used when an image is removed from the web resource:
“CONTENT REMOVAL ADVICE: Photographic or other visual content(s) formerly available on this page has been removed on [date].
This action has been taken following notification to Find and Connect that the content is disputed and does not conform with the Find & Connect web resource Image Policy. If you would like more information about the content, why it was taken down, or the Image Policy, please contact us.
While best efforts have been made to remove this content from the Find & Connect web resource, please note that the images may still be available through external third-party websites, including sites linked to elsewhere on Find & Connect.”
Appendix E: Feedback and Complaints procedure
The Feedback and Complaints procedure is available on the Find & Connect website under About – Feedback.