1. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Rob Sanderson
rsanderson@getty.edu
@azaroth42
@iiif_io #iiifhttp://iiif.io/
The Advantages of Interoperable APIs

2. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
A Community
that develops APIs,
implements them in Software,
and exposes interoperable Content

3. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Application Programming Interface
“ A set of routines, protocols, and tools for
building software applications. The API
specifies how software components should
interact […]
Think: The rules of the game.
If you’re not following the rules of how to
interact, then you’re not playing the game.
Lewis Chessman ; National Museum of Scotland
”

4. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Ms. Ludwig XV 15, fol. 14v ; http://www.getty.edu/art/collection/objects/233698/
Why Play by the Rules?
Cost Savings
Flexibility
Integration

5. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Cost Savings
Cheaper, Faster, Easier to obtain pieces than to build
them from scratch: Only possible with standards

6. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
No Need to Go Alone
Community shares costs
Less to understand
Already designed,
documented,
implemented,
tested

7. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Flexibility: Many Sizes are Possible

8. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Flexibility
Always have best-of-breed by
seamlessly swapping products
Easy to integrate legacy systems
Use the same content in different
applications
Support for many languages,
platforms

9. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Innovation is Encouraged
Anything not specified is possible, and should feed in to the specs

10. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Integration
• Inter-institution content in a single UI
• Reunite the Lewis Chessmen!
• … and similar
• Comparison of objects
• Shared analysis tools
• Cross institution discovery
• Multi-institution virtual exhibits

11. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Rules Updates
Haven’t had centuries to work on the APIs yet!
• Shared use cases needed
• Practical, results based requirements
• Responsively managed for changing needs
• Responsibly managed to prevent overload
• Community based process, with editorial
team documenting the decisions

12. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Rules Updates
Haven’t had centuries to work on the APIs yet!
• Shared use cases needed
• Practical, results based requirements
• Responsively managed for changing needs
• Responsibly managed to prevent overload
• Community based process, with editorial
team documenting the decisions ------->

13. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
The Past

14. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Marginally Better

15. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Provides Consistency

16. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
… and Interoperability

17. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Get the image content, and
technical data to enable rich
interactions with a single image
Just enough descriptive data to
enable a remote viewing
application for multi-image objects
Image API Presentation API
Two Core APIs

18. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Image API
http://iiif.io/api/image/2.1/

19. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Presentation API
http://iiif.io/api/presentation/2.1/
• Structure
– Collection, Item, Parts, Content
• Properties
– Descriptive
– Rights
– Technical
– Linking

20. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Presentation API
http://iiif.io/api/presentation/2.1/
• Structure
– Collection, Item, Parts, Content
• Properties
– Descriptive
– Rights
– Technical
– Linking

21. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Shared Canvas:
An abstract space used for
building a view of the object
IIIF Presentation API

22. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Shared Canvas:
An abstract space used for
building a view of the object
Think: Powerpoint Slide
IIIF Presentation API

23. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Presentation API

24. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Presentation API

25. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Presentation API

26. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
IIIF Presentation API

27. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Image + Presentation = Object
Mirador

28. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Image + Presentation = Object

29. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Image + Presentation = Object
Image API
Presentation API: Descriptive
Presentation API: Structure
Both: Image / Structure

30. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Image + Presentation = Object
Universal Viewer Diva.JS

31. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
To support login, and
differential access to
resources.
Search within an object,
such as the full text of a
book or newspaper
Authentication APISearch API
Two More APIs
All Specifications: http://iiif.io/api/

32. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
A Community
that develops APIs,
…shh … secret third line…
implements them in Software,
and exposes interoperable Content

33. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
A Community
that develops APIs,
based on Web Standards,
implements them in Software,
and exposes interoperable Content

34. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Web Standards
• Linked Open Data
• JSON-LD
• Linked Data Platform
• Open Annotation
• Media Fragments
Putting the puzzle together with a little glue to make it stick

35. IIIF: Advantages of Interoperable APIs
MOMA, New York City, May 10th 2016 // #iiif @azaroth42
Thank You!
rsanderson@getty.edu
These slides thanks to: @tcramer, @mikeapps, @jpstroop, @bla222, @zimeon, @snydman, and the IIIF community