The photos in this collection are originals and copies. In many cases, the source of the item has been lost, and along with that the potential for further identification of the image dates and content. Also, the source, and thus legal copyright, of many of the copied images is unknown. A series of accession numbers has been attached to this collection, but there was no attempt, at the time of original processing, to maintain the provenance with the individual item. Some of this information is being reclaimed with research within the accession records, but much of this information is lost.

The photos in this collection have been acquired and managed by a succession of people and departments in the Library through the years. As with other Archives throughout the country, accession documentation procedures, copy procedures, handling, housing and other photo management procedures, have improved over time.

Because of extensive copying and recopying of originals over the years, many of the images in this collection duplicate those in other collections currently in both the library and Grand Rapids Public Museum. Generally it is not possible to tell which image is closer to the original.