Search Records API

Response format

Appending an extension to a resource tells the API to use the requested format. Valid extensions are xml, json, rss.

You can also specify the format in the Accept header of the HTTP request, e.g. Accept: application/json in a request to http://api.digitalnz.org/records/v1/ tells the API to use JSON format. Valid Accept headers include application/json, application/js, application/xml, application/rss+xml

e.g. http://api.digitalnz.org/records/v2.xml?search_text=social+welfare&api_key=your_api_key e.g. http://api.digitalnz.org/records/v2.json?search_text=social+welfare&api_key=your_api_key

Note: An XML format will return the response field names in a hyphenated format, for example large_thumbnail_url in an XML format will look like: <large-thumbnail-url>http://etc/etc</large-thumbnail-url>

Response elements

The search results will return the following elements:

• num_results_requested - the value of the num_results parameter sent to the API method
• result_count - the total number of results matching this search
• start - the value of the start parameter sent to the API method
• results - the search results data. The results element will contain 0 or more result elements, each containing the following elements:
  • category - a string containing one or more category names separated by a comma (e.g. Images, Web pages)
  • content_provider - the institution holding the content to which the record refers
  • date - a date associated with the record (e.g. 1996-01-01T00:00:00.000Z). This field may be empty
  • description - text describing the record
  • display_url - the url for the content on the content provider's website. Please use the source_url when providing HTML links (see below)
  • additional_description - additional text describing the record
  • display_url - the url for the content on the content provider's website. Please use the source_url when providing HTML links (see below)
  • id - the internal DigitalNZ identifier (used by the Get Metadata API)
  • metadata_url - the url to the DigitalNZ API method that will return the full metadata for the record.
  • source_url - the url that will redirect users to the display_url. By using this link (as opposed to the display_url) we are able to count clickthroughs which is helpful for demonstrating the value of DigitalNZ
  • syndication_date - the date the record was added to DigitalNZ
  • thumbnail_url - the url of for a thumbnail image of the content to which the record refers. This field may be empty.
  • title - the title of the record
  • geo_co_ords - The latitude and longitude in the following format: namespace:lat,long;
    Multiple values are seperated by semi-colons, for example: namespace:lat,long;namespace:lat,long;namespace:lat,long;
    NOTE: namespace is optional.
  • large_thumbnail_url - a larger thumbnail image with dimensions up to 800px
  • object_copyright - the copyright statement applying to the object. This field may be empty.
  • object_license - the licence for the object. This field may be empty.
  • object_rights_url - the url of the object licence. This field may be empty.
  • display_date - 
  • peer_reviewed - boolean, associated with research paper items. True indicates the research paper has been peer reviewed
  • marsden_code - a number indicating the field of research
  • author - lists the author’s names
  • no_landing_page - boolean value, if set to true it indicates the item doesn’t have an external landing page, usually because it is a downloadable item such as a pdf or mpeg
  • object_url - a url pointing to a downloadable object, i.e. an image, pdf or mpeg
  • published_date - list of dates published 
  • publisher - lists the publisher’s names
  • dctype - Dublin Core categorisation indicating type
  • library_collection - the library collection item belongs to
  • display_collection - the display collection the item belongs to.
  • collection_parent - the item’s parent collection
  • collection_root - the top level collection
  • facets - the facet result data (if requested). The facets element will contain one facet-field element corresponding to each facet requested. Each facet-field element contains a sorted list of value elements that are made up of a name and num-results element. See the note below for more information on facets.

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  A note on facets

  Faceted search is a user interface technique for helping users to refine their searches by prompting them with metadata elements to add to their search. The Wikipedia faceted search page provides useful background information.

  DigitalNZ can calculate facet values for any search. In the DigitalNZ search interface, these facets are used to provide the list of values to "Filter by" on the right hand side of the result screen, and the list of categories on the left hand side of the result screen.

  The facets that you can request through the DigitalNZ search records API are category, display_collection, creator, placename, year, decade, century, language, content_partner, rights, collection.

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  Examples

  Search for 'social welfare' and return only ten results starting at 30:

  http://api.digitalnz.org/records/v2.xml?search_text=social+welfare&num_results=10&start=30&api_key=your_api_key

  Search for 'social welfare' and sort by ascending content_provider:

  http://api.digitalnz.org/records/v2.xml?search_text=social+welfare&sort=content_provider&direction=asc&api_key=your_api_key

  Search for images, excluding those from Flickr:

  http://api.digitalnz.org/records/v2.xml?search_text=category:Images+!collection:Flickr&api_key=your_api_key