europeana-collections

What this skill does

# Europeana Collections API Skill

Search 50M+ cultural heritage items from 4,000+ European institutions.

## Critical: Things Claude Won't Know Without This Skill

### API key is required — use `api2demo` for testing

Every request needs a `wskey` parameter. The demo key `api2demo` works for development/testing. For production use, register for a free key at https://www.europeana.eu/en/account/api-keys.

```
https://api.europeana.eu/record/v2/search.json?query=vermeer&wskey=api2demo
```

### Response fields use Dublin Core / EDM naming

Fields are prefixed with `dc` (Dublin Core) or `edm` (Europeana Data Model):
- `title` — array of title strings
- `dcCreator` — creator names
- `dcDescription` — descriptions
- `year` — year(s) as strings
- `country` — country of holding institution
- `dataProvider` — institution name (e.g., "Rijksmuseum")
- `rights` — license URL
- `edmPreview` — thumbnail URL
- `edmIsShownAt` — link to item on provider's site
- `type` — `IMAGE`, `TEXT`, `SOUND`, `VIDEO`, `3D`

### Filter for open-access with `reusability=open`

```
?query=vermeer&reusability=open
```

Returns only items with open licenses (Public Domain, CC0, CC BY, CC BY-SA).

### Multilingual titles use `LangAware` suffix

`dcTitleLangAware` contains titles keyed by language code:
```json
{"en": ["The Milkmaid"], "nl": ["Het melkmeisje"]}
```

## Key Search Parameters

| Param | Description | Example |
|-------|-------------|---------|
| `query` | Search query (Lucene syntax) | `query=vermeer` |
| `qf` | Query filter (field:value) | `qf=TYPE:IMAGE` |
| `reusability` | License filter: `open`, `restricted`, `permission` | `reusability=open` |
| `media` | Has media (`true`/`false`) | `media=true` |
| `rows` | Results per page (max 100) | `rows=20` |
| `start` | Result offset (1-based) | `start=21` |
| `sort` | Sort field | `sort=score+desc` |
| `wskey` | API key (required) | `wskey=api2demo` |
| `profile` | Response detail: `minimal`, `standard`, `rich` | `profile=rich` |

### Query Filters (`qf=`)

| Filter | Values |
|--------|--------|
| `TYPE` | `IMAGE`, `TEXT`, `SOUND`, `VIDEO`, `3D` |
| `COUNTRY` | Country name (e.g., `Netherlands`) |
| `LANGUAGE` | ISO code (e.g., `en`, `nl`, `de`) |
| `PROVIDER` | Provider name |
| `DATA_PROVIDER` | Institution name |
| `RIGHTS` | License URL |
| `what` | Subject/keyword |
| `where` | Place |
| `when` | Time period |

Multiple filters: repeat `qf=` parameter.

## Record Lookup

```
https://api.europeana.eu/record/v2/{RECORD_ID}.json?wskey=api2demo
```

Record IDs look like `/15502/GG_9128` (from the `id` field in search results).

## Response Structure

```json
{
  "success": true,
  "totalResults": 1573,
  "items": [
    {
      "id": "/90402/SK_A_2344",
      "title": ["The Milkmaid", "Het melkmeisje"],
      "dcCreator": ["Johannes Vermeer"],
      "year": ["1660"],
      "country": ["Netherlands"],
      "dataProvider": ["Rijksmuseum"],
      "type": "IMAGE",
      "rights": ["http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/"],
      "edmPreview": ["https://api.europeana.eu/thumbnail/v2/..."],
      "edmIsShownAt": ["http://hdl.handle.net/..."],
      "edmIsShownBy": ["https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/..."],
      "score": 20.9
    }
  ]
}
```

## Python Script

```python
from scripts.europeana_api import EuropeanaAPI
eu = EuropeanaAPI()  # uses api2demo key by default

# Basic search
results = eu.search("vermeer")

# Filtered search
results = eu.search("medieval manuscript", type="TEXT", country="France", reusability="open")

# Get single record
record = eu.get_record("/15502/GG_9128")

# Summarize
for r in results:
    print(eu.summarize(r))
```

## API Etiquette

- Free API key required (register at europeana.eu)
- Demo key `api2demo` for testing only
- No published rate limit for free keys; project keys available for higher throughput
- Include descriptive User-Agent header

## Related Skills

- **wikidata-search**: Cross-reference Europeana items with Wikidata entities
- **harvard-library-catalog**: Compare European holdings with Harvard's collection
- **loc-catalog**: Cross-reference with Library of Congress digitized collections

## Resources

- `references/api_reference.md` — Complete query filter and response field reference
- `scripts/europeana_api.py` — Python client with search, record lookup, and open-access filtering