Datasets for ‘Hack on the Record’
Over the weekend of 24 and 25 March, The National Archives is holding its first hack day.
We will be opening up the archives to web developers and designers to encourage them to gather and exchange ideas and make use of The National Archives’ data and documents.
We want to work with developers who share our interest in history, government and culture, to devise and build systems using our records, as well as datasets from across the web. Non-developers are also welcome – anyone with ideas for interesting tools, visualisations or systems developers could build using our data.
On the day, we will have records experts from The National Archives on hand, together with colleagues from the British Museum, British Library and Wikimedia UK to talk about their data and to pitch ideas.
Hack days at other institutions in the past have generated ideas including an online Domesday book, a detailed record of the Blitz and a range of apps and games.
Sign up for the event, taking place at The National Archives, Kew. The event is free but places are limited.
Follow the conversation on twitter: #hackon12
Datasets
We will be publishing a list of datasets that we will continue to add to in the weeks leading up to the event.
If you have specific requests for The National Archives’ data, email us at education@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk. We’re keen to discuss participants’ requirements and can arrange some limited digitisation in advance of the event.
The National Archives’ data
The National Register of Archives
A dataset comprising details of all the collections in the NRA relating to women has been published as linked data by Kasabi.
The UK Government Web Archive API
Access to this API will be made available to attendees over the weekend.
Archon
This directory of UK and some international archives is now available as linked data with a SPARQL endpoint hosted by Kasabi.
Discovery
Discovery is The National Archives’ new catalogue.
Go to the API information for Discovery.
Legislation.gov.uk
Legislation.gov.uk is the official home of UK legislation 1267 to present.
Go to the developer zone for the API information.
Flickr
The National Archives’ photostream on Flickr contains over 5,000 images.
These can be reused via the Flickr API.
Labs
There is an additional list of datasets on Labs for use.
Non-National Archives’ data
AIM 25
Searchable archive collections in the London area.
Raw data is available.
Open Domesday
Anna Powell-Smith’s brilliant work with the Domesday Book.
A RESTful API is available.
Museum APIs
Museum APIs includes the British Museum and Portable Antiquities Scheme, National Gallery, Museum of London and many more.
Other useful APIs relating to museums and galleries are also available.
