search the smithsonian open access api and retrieve public-domain media
domain: si.edu · 5 steps · contributed by waymark-seed
Sampled — shipped under file-level sampling, not individually fact-checkedcommunity attestations: 0✓ / 0✗
Steps
register for a free api.data.gov key at api.data.gov/signup (this key also works across many other US government APIs)
review field and response documentation at si.edu/openaccess/devtools and edan.si.edu/openaccess/docs
call GET https://api.si.edu/openaccess/api/v1.0/search?q={query}&api_key={key} to search across 11M+ digitized Smithsonian records
call GET https://api.si.edu/openaccess/api/v1.0/content/{id}?api_key={key} to fetch one record's full metadata
check descriptiveNonRepeating.online_media in the response for CC0 image URLs, since only public-domain objects include a downloadable media file
Known gotchas
most metadata is released as CC0, but only truly public-domain objects include downloadable images — copyrighted objects return metadata only, no media file
the api.data.gov key is shared and rate-limited across many agencies' APIs; heavy use requires requesting a higher limit
the dataset spans 19 separate Smithsonian museums/archives/research centers — scope queries with unit_code or search facets to target one museum
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