Evidence-backed facts
- Smithsonian Open Access Developer Tools says Open Access collection metadata is available through a Smithsonian public API hosted at api.data.gov and through weekly-refreshed JSON data in its GitHub repository; this does not establish that every Smithsonian collection object is represented. informative
- The Developer Tools page says users can register for an API key through the public API. It does not document unauthenticated request access, key scope, a request rate, or a service limit here, so an Agent must not presume anonymous API access or a credential's permissions. informative
- The reviewed page says API documentation covers fields, departments, and data types, but it does not renew an endpoint, query parameter, paging, cursor, or result-limit contract. A client needs matching official API documentation and any required credential before making a live request. informative
- For digital images of public-domain objects, the page describes metadata that can include a corresponding image URL. For collection objects with copyright or other limitations, it describes CC0 metadata portions without a Smithsonian media file. This documentation does not establish download or reuse permission for an arbitrary record, media URL, object, or third-party right. informative