kuvausdokumentaatio

Kuvausdokumentaatio (image documentation) is the systematic process of recording information about visual materials to support discovery, interpretation, preservation and reuse. It combines descriptive, structural, and technical metadata to describe an object, its context, provenance and format.

The scope covers photographs, drawings, posters, films, and digital images, including both physical items and their digital surrogates. Documentation addresses creation, custody, access conditions and the technical characteristics of the image.

Key components include descriptive metadata (title, creator, date, subject, description), administrative metadata (rights, provenance, custody, access restrictions), technical metadata (file format, resolution, color space, digitization method), and structural metadata that links related items or versions.

Standards commonly used in kuvatusdokumentaatio include Dublin Core, IPTC Photo Metadata, EXIF, XMP and VRA Core. Institutions may adapt these standards within digital asset management systems or archival databases to improve interoperability.

Practitioners such as archivists, librarians, curators and conservators carry out kuvatusdokumentaatio through planning, metadata creation, digitization, cataloging and long-term preservation. The practice supports research, education and cultural heritage preservation while enabling rights management and cross-institution access.

In Finland, kuvausdokumentaatio is integrated into national and institutional metadata practices and aligns with cultural heritage policies aimed at preserving visual material and facilitating public access.