Nightlife is one of the least-archived parts of urban culture. It is rarely documented while it is happening, and easily erased once it is gone. An archive built from fragments has to be honest about which fragments it holds — so AFTR/IMG marks confidence directly on the record.
Four confidence states
Every venue carries a flag. Verified means dates and core facts are corroborated against a source. Needs review means the data is plausible but awaits corroboration. Approximate means a span or a coordinate is deliberately rough. Disputed means there are conflicting accounts on record — as with the exact end of a party that moved between addresses for decades.
Where the project does not yet hold citations, the copy says so — in framing like 'associated with,' 'remembered for,' and 'often cited within.' Quotes and oral histories appear only when they can be attributed; until then, the slot is left visibly empty rather than filled with something invented.
Why keep the gaps visible
Because the gaps are the invitation. An empty plate is a flyer not yet found; an empty quote is an account not yet recorded. The atlas is meant to be corrected and completed by the people who were actually in these rooms.
Two records the atlas currently marks as disputed — open questions, not settled history.