Source Acquisition Guide

This guide is for readers, librarians, engineers, historians, and independent researchers who find a Steinmetz book, paper, lecture, patent, diagram, archive record, or scan that should belong in the archive.

The short rule is simple: bring the source into custody before asking the archive to decode it. A title, a rumor, a bibliography entry, or an unsourced quotation can be useful as a lead, but it is not yet a decoded source.

Best current acquisition queue

The priority queue is the current source expansion wave: hysteresis, complex quantities, general circuit equations, magnetic forces, lightning, impulse currents, cable discharge, arcing grounds, and patents.

Expansion waveEssential papersSubmit a source lead

What Counts As Source Custody

A source is in usable custody when the archive can point to a stable object that a future reviewer can inspect again.

Custody Level	Examples	How It May Be Used
Public scan or full text	Internet Archive scan, HathiTrust public view, Google Books public-domain scan, institutional PDF, official patent record.	Can enter OCR, section mapping, figure review, formula review, and public source-reader generation.
Authority record only	DOI page, library catalog record, finding aid, bibliography citation.	Can become an acquisition or finding-aid page, but not a decoded source.
Local scan supplied by contributor	Public-domain PDF, page images, photographed pamphlet, typed transcription with scan evidence.	Can be considered if rights are clear and page provenance is preserved.
Unverified quotation	Forum quote, AI answer, unsourced blog excerpt, unattributed equation image.	Can be logged as a lead only. It cannot support a public claim.

Metadata To Submit

Include as much of this as possible:

• Full title exactly as printed or cataloged.
• Year, edition, volume, issue, proceedings title, patent number, or archive collection identifier.
• Creator, editor, conference, journal, publisher, or institutional custodian.
• Stable authority link: DOI, Internet Archive, HathiTrust, Google Books, Open Library, Google Patents, USPTO, library record, or finding aid.
• Rights note: public domain, public scan, restricted access, unknown, or contributor-supplied scan.
• Why it matters: concepts, equations, diagrams, patents, historical context, Tesla-era overlap, or field-language value.
• Known defects: missing pages, low-quality OCR, duplicate edition, damaged scan, incomplete plate, or uncertain title page.

If you provide a local file, keep its original filename visible and include where it came from. A checksum is ideal once the file enters the repository.

Processing Path

Every serious source should move through these gates:

1. Registered source lead.
2. Custody confirmed through a public scan, local public-domain file, official patent record, or archive finding aid.
3. OCR or text extraction created and preserved.
4. Page, chapter, lecture, article, or patent-section map created.
5. Concept, glossary, quote, formula, and figure candidates extracted.
6. Source reader and source overview generated with verification warnings.
7. Scan checks promote exact quotations, formulas, and diagrams.
8. Concept pages, math pages, visual galleries, and comparison pages receive source-grounded updates.

Until step 7, formulas and OCR passages remain candidate material. This archive deliberately avoids pretending damaged OCR is verified mathematics.

Priority Targets

The archive most needs source custody for these high-value works:

On the Law of HysteresisFoundation of magnetic hysteresis loss and the Steinmetz law.Complex QuantitiesFlagship source for symbolic AC method and complex quantities.General EquationsBridge from circuit mathematics to transients and general symbolic treatment.Mechanical ForcesHigh-value field stress, magnetic force, and pressure/tension language.Lightning PhenomenaEssential for surges, lightning, high voltage, and impulse interpretation.Cable Charge And DischargeDistributed capacity, cable transients, and line behavior.

How To Submit

The easiest path is the GitHub source-intake form. If GitHub is not convenient, use the contact links on the contribution page and include the same metadata.

Submit one source at a time

One precise source lead is better than a large loose list. It lets reviewers preserve custody, rights, edition, page, and processing status without confusion.

Open source intake issueContribution pageCritical frontier

What Not To Do

Do not paste long copyrighted text into an issue. Do not submit a modern paraphrase as if it were Steinmetz’s wording. Do not mix Tesla, Wheeler, Dollard, or ether-field interpretation into the source-custody layer. Those comparisons may become useful later, but the first job is always to know exactly what Steinmetz wrote, where, and in which edition.

Why This Matters

The archive is becoming useful because it is open and careful at the same time. Source acquisition is the hinge between those two virtues. The more complete the custody trail, the stronger every future concept page, equation page, diagram, glossary entry, hidden gem, and interpretive boundary becomes.