New York Public Library What's On The Menu · Schema

Name	Type	Description
id	integer	Unique numeric identifier for the menu. Primary key referenced by MenuPage.menu_id.
name	stringnull	Name or title of the menu, often the name of the restaurant, establishment, or event hosting it.
sponsor	stringnull	The institution, restaurant, hotel, society, or organization that sponsored or hosted the menu.
event	stringnull	The occasion or event the menu was created for (e.g. Dinner, Breakfast, Banquet, Anniversary).
venue	stringnull	The type of venue or setting the menu was served in (e.g. Commercial, Social, Professional).
place	stringnull	Free-text place name where the menu was used, as transcribed.
physical_description	stringnull	Description of the physical menu object: dimensions, material, folding, illustration, and condition.
occasion	stringnull	Specific occasion associated with the menu where distinct from the event.
notes	stringnull	Curatorial or transcriber notes about the menu.
call_number	stringnull	NYPL catalog call number for the physical menu in the library's collection.
keywords	stringnull	Keyword tags assigned to the menu (historically unused in much of the dataset).
language	stringnull	Language(s) the menu is written in.
date	stringnull	Date the menu was issued or used. Stored as a free-text/ISO date string; precision varies (year only to full date).
location	stringnull	Establishment or location name where the menu was served.
location_type	stringnull	Classification of the location (historically sparsely populated).
currency	stringnull	Currency in which menu item prices are denominated (e.g. Dollars, Francs).
currency_symbol	stringnull	Symbol for the currency used on the menu (e.g. $).
status	stringnull	Crowdsourcing transcription status of the menu.
page_count	integernull	Number of digitized pages (MenuPage records) belonging to this menu.
dish_count	integernull	Number of distinct dishes (via MenuItem records) appearing on this menu.

JSON Schema

{
  "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
  "$id": "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/new-york-public-library-whats-on-the-menu/refs/heads/main/json-schema/new-york-public-library-whats-on-the-menu-menu-schema.json",
  "title": "Menu",
  "description": "A single historical menu in the New York Public Library 'What's on the Menu?' dataset. Each Menu represents one physical menu object (from a restaurant, hotel, steamship, banquet, etc.) that was digitized and crowdsourced-transcribed. Corresponds to a row in Menu.csv.",
  "type": "object",
  "required": ["id"],
  "additionalProperties": false,
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "integer",
      "minimum": 1,
      "description": "Unique numeric identifier for the menu. Primary key referenced by MenuPage.menu_id."
    },
    "name": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Name or title of the menu, often the name of the restaurant, establishment, or event hosting it."
    },
    "sponsor": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "The institution, restaurant, hotel, society, or organization that sponsored or hosted the menu."
    },
    "event": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "The occasion or event the menu was created for (e.g. Dinner, Breakfast, Banquet, Anniversary)."
    },
    "venue": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "The type of venue or setting the menu was served in (e.g. Commercial, Social, Professional)."
    },
    "place": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Free-text place name where the menu was used, as transcribed."
    },
    "physical_description": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Description of the physical menu object: dimensions, material, folding, illustration, and condition."
    },
    "occasion": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Specific occasion associated with the menu where distinct from the event."
    },
    "notes": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Curatorial or transcriber notes about the menu."
    },
    "call_number": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "NYPL catalog call number for the physical menu in the library's collection."
    },
    "keywords": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Keyword tags assigned to the menu (historically unused in much of the dataset)."
    },
    "language": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Language(s) the menu is written in."
    },
    "date": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Date the menu was issued or used. Stored as a free-text/ISO date string; precision varies (year only to full date).",
      "examples": ["1900-04-15", "1900"]
    },
    "location": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Establishment or location name where the menu was served."
    },
    "location_type": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Classification of the location (historically sparsely populated)."
    },
    "currency": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Currency in which menu item prices are denominated (e.g. Dollars, Francs)."
    },
    "currency_symbol": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "description": "Symbol for the currency used on the menu (e.g. $)."
    },
    "status": {
      "type": ["string", "null"],
      "enum": ["complete", "under review", "under_review", "to transcribe", "to_transcribe", null],
      "description": "Crowdsourcing transcription status of the menu."
    },
    "page_count": {
      "type": ["integer", "null"],
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Number of digitized pages (MenuPage records) belonging to this menu."
    },
    "dish_count": {
      "type": ["integer", "null"],
      "minimum": 0,
      "description": "Number of distinct dishes (via MenuItem records) appearing on this menu."
    }
  }
}