Sources & Editorial Method

Research and editorial principles

• A claim is written only when at least one identifiable published source supports it.
• Narrative style never overrides the evidence. Where the record is thin, the text says so.
• Contested national memory is presented with its plurality intact, without adopting a partisan voice.
• Oral tradition is valued and labelled as oral tradition rather than presented as documentary record.

Source hierarchy

When sources disagree, they are weighed in this order, with the higher level preferred unless a specific reason is stated in the exhibit.

• Primary sources: archival documents, inscriptions, period photography, contemporaneous press, and first-hand testimony.
• Academic secondary sources: peer reviewed books, journal articles and reference encyclopedias.
• Institutional references: museums, national archives, heritage agencies and recognized sporting federations.
• International bodies and heritage listings such as UNESCO World Heritage records.
• Quality journalism and documentary work, used for recent events and for cultural or sporting memory.

Citation standards

• Sources are defined once in a shared registry and referenced by exhibits, so the same work is never described in two conflicting ways.
• Each record carries a title, a kind, a publisher or archive when known, and a public link when one exists.
• Exhibits display a confidence label so a visitor can tell verified fact from widely accepted account, ongoing academic debate, or tradition.

Disputed and evolving interpretations

Dates, place names and casualty figures vary between traditions and archives. Where a figure is contested, the exhibit states the range and names the disagreement instead of choosing silently. Interpretations are revised when new scholarship becomes available.

Translation review

• English, French and Arabic carry the same facts. A translation may adapt phrasing but may not add, soften or remove a claim.
• Names of people and places keep their Amazigh, Arabic or French forms where those forms are the ones used in the sources.
• Machine assisted drafts are never published as final text without a human editorial pass.

Corrections policy

Reports of a factual error are reviewed against the cited sources. Confirmed errors are corrected in all three languages, and the source list of the exhibit is updated when the correction rests on a new reference. Where a report reflects a genuine scholarly dispute rather than an error, the exhibit is reworded to present both readings.

Images and media attribution

• Archival photographs are credited to their collection or photographer when that information is known.
• Illustrative or reconstructed imagery, including generated visuals used to evoke a place or a period, is labelled as illustrative and is never presented as a historical document.
• If a rights holder identifies an item that should be credited differently or withdrawn, the item is reviewed and updated.