Smithsonian Collection Item

A museum collection object from the Smithsonian Institution Open Access API

CollectionsCultural HeritageMuseumsOpen DataArtNatural HistoryResearch

Properties

Name	Type	Description
id	string	Unique EDAN identifier
title	string	Object title
unitCode	string	Smithsonian museum or library unit code (e.g., NMAH, NASM, SIA)
type	string	EDAN record type
url	string	URL to the object page on si.edu
thumbnail	string	URL to thumbnail image
content	object	Full metadata content

View JSON Schema on GitHub

JSON Schema

{
  "$schema": "http://json-schema.org/draft-07/schema#",
  "$id": "https://edan.si.edu/openaccess/schemas/collection-item",
  "title": "Smithsonian Collection Item",
  "description": "A museum collection object from the Smithsonian Institution Open Access API",
  "type": "object",
  "properties": {
    "id": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Unique EDAN identifier"
    },
    "title": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Object title"
    },
    "unitCode": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "Smithsonian museum or library unit code (e.g., NMAH, NASM, SIA)",
      "examples": ["NMAH", "NASM", "SIA", "NMNHAH", "FSG"]
    },
    "type": {
      "type": "string",
      "description": "EDAN record type",
      "enum": ["edanmdm", "ead_collection", "ead_component"]
    },
    "url": {
      "type": "string",
      "format": "uri",
      "description": "URL to the object page on si.edu"
    },
    "thumbnail": {
      "type": "string",
      "format": "uri",
      "description": "URL to thumbnail image"
    },
    "content": {
      "type": "object",
      "description": "Full metadata content",
      "properties": {
        "descriptiveNonRepeating": {
          "type": "object",
          "description": "Non-repeating descriptive metadata",
          "properties": {
            "title": {
              "type": "object",
              "properties": {
                "content": {"type": "string"}
              }
            },
            "record_ID": {"type": "string"},
            "unit_code": {"type": "string"},
            "data_source": {"type": "string"},
            "online_media": {
              "type": "object",
              "properties": {
                "media": {
                  "type": "array",
                  "items": {"$ref": "#/definitions/MediaItem"}
                }
              }
            }
          }
        },
        "indexedStructured": {
          "type": "object",
          "description": "Structured indexed metadata for faceted search",
          "properties": {
            "object_type": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
            "date": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
            "place": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
            "culture": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
            "topic": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}},
            "online_media_type": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "string"}}
          }
        },
        "freetext": {
          "type": "object",
          "description": "Free-text metadata fields",
          "properties": {
            "physicalDescription": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "object"}},
            "setName": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "object"}},
            "creditLine": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "object"}},
            "notes": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "object"}},
            "identifier": {"type": "array", "items": {"type": "object"}}
          }
        }
      }
    }
  },
  "definitions": {
    "MediaItem": {
      "type": "object",
      "properties": {
        "thumbnail": {"type": "string", "format": "uri"},
        "idsId": {"type": "string"},
        "type": {
          "type": "string",
          "enum": ["Images", "Videos", "Audio", "3D Models"]
        },
        "content": {"type": "string", "format": "uri"},
        "caption": {"type": "string"}
      }
    }
  }
}