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Exploring existing manifests

For IIIF Cloud Services platform users, the ability to import an existing manifest and then edit it within the platform allows them to develop and enhance their existing IIIF as required. This feature also enables users to browse published IIIF Manifests and examine those - perhaps to inform how to structure aspects of the metadata, or see how specific IIIF Presentation specification features have been used by other institutions.

It is a good way to learn and discover more about the possibilities the specification can afford. So before we start creating our own manifests - we will take a look at one or two so that you can see how they are structured, and view some of the metadata included with them to provide some context for our later work.

Perhaps there are one or more institutions that you are aware of which provide a link to their IIIF Manifests that you would like to select and open? If there are good examples you want to share please do!

IIIF Manifest examples to explore today

If you don't have some specific IIIF content that you wish to view, the following is a short list of a few examples from various institutes in the UK:

University of Leeds

Wellcome

Oxford Bodleian

British Library

National Library of Wales - Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru

University of Edinburgh

National Library of Scotland

Importing an existing Manifest into your workshop portal

If you have an example URL selected, navigate to your IIIF Publishing area, and select to create a new manifest. Use the ‘Import Manifest’ option:

Import existing Manifest

Select the option to Import, which should import the valid IIIF Manifest, displaying the Manifest in the Portal view. A 'slug' which acts as a unique identifier for the Manifest you are importing will be created based on the Manifest label. You can edit and update this if you want to use a different value.

Add the slug for import

When successfully imported, your copy of the Manifest will be presented in the Portal Manifest view where you can browse the descriptive metadata and view the canvas(es) contained in the Manifest. Note that the assets - images, audio, video etc. that form part of the manifest will not be imported, the manifest simply points to the existing content.

View existing Manifest in Portal view

You can view the Manifest in detail, by clicking on the ‘Edit with manifest editor’ link, which will allow you to view and update your copy of the manifest.

Edit existing Manifest

We will discuss aspects of the metadata included in IIIF Manifests, and if anyone has questions we'll try to address these.

Further IIIF Content to explore

You can use Theseus or the Manifest Editor to find IIIF Manifest URLs from existing IIIF collections and Manifests.

TU Delft

You can navigate their IIIF collection from here: (https://heritage.tudelft.nl/iiif/collection.json )

Using Theseus from the viewer tools, you can navigate through IIIF collections - simply open Theseus and paste in the Collection URL.

https://theseusviewer.org/?iiif-content={URL}

Next to some of the examples there will be links to open and preview IIIF in Theseus.

Open in Theseus

You can grab the IIIF Manifest URL from the sidebar.

The link to open the Manifest in Theseus

Rijksmuseum

The Rijksmuseum has a collection of artworks and artifacts that can be explored. A proxy is available that allows you to grab IIIF Manifests from the resources. If you paste a URL for one of these pages in the box below, a IIIF Manifest URL will be generated.

https://www.rijksmuseum.nl/en/stories/10-things/story/10-remarkable-women

Here you can see where to get the URLs from the object pages.

Rijksmuseum

Allard Pierson image bank

The Allard Pierson's image bank contains digital images of archaeological objects, paintings, prints, maps, photos and slides, as well as books and manuscripts scanned in their entirety.

The pages on their website contain links to IIIF Manifests that can be browsed in the Manifest Editor Browser.

https://uvaerfgoed.nl/viewer/index/

University of Amsterdam

Open example Manifest

BnF Gallica

An extensive resource - you can explore by Topic (https://gallica.bnf.fr/accueil/en/html/accueil-en) to find some content that may be of interest across a range of areas. Selecting a topic (Geography and Maps for example): https://gallica.bnf.fr/selections/fr/html/geographie-et-cartographie, you can navigate to content such as https://gallica.bnf.fr/selections/fr/html/images/photographies-de-la-societe-de-geographie-acces-geographique

Selecting an object from the search results, viewing it in their viewer, you can find the IIIF Manifest link:

i.e. https://gallica.bnf.fr/iiif/ark:/12148/btv1b8492135q/manifest.json

WikiData

As mentioned on the IIIF Guides, Wikidata has a property for IIIF Manifests which enables queries to be created that filter and retrieve manifests if they match other Wikidata properties. You can use the examples listed here: https://iiif.io/guides/guides/www.wikidata.org/ which generate links to the manifest using the Mirador viewer.

There is also an example configured for Theseus here: https://w.wiki/DaXE

Wellcome

The Wellcome Collection has various IIIF endpoints available to browse through from their archives.

Wellcome Collection

Northwestern University Libraries

The Digital collections at Northwestern University Libraries are available online as a IIIF Collection that you can browse through.

https://api.dc.library.northwestern.edu/api/v2/collections?as=iiif

Northwestern University Libraries

IIIF Image Services

From the Manifest Editor you can add IIIF-enabled images from their info.json manifest links. These enable deep zoom for the images. Some providers do not support IIIF Presentation APIs (Collections and Manifests) but do offer API endpoints for their images.

NLS collection

One provider that supports IIIF Images is the National Library of Scotland Map Collection.

https://maps.nls.uk/

From their site, if you are looking at a single map you can click on the "Show IIIF" and grab a link to the info.json link to add it to your Manifest.

Static images

You can also add images using images that are not IIIF-enabled. You will need an image that is allowed to be linked to from other pages. The format also needs to be supported by browsers, so formats such as JP2000 may not work correctly.

There are a few sources where you can find some static images to include in your Manifests.

The CDLI Collection

On this CDLI collection website high-resolution images are available of the tablets.

https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/

By making the form and content of cuneiform texts available online, the CDLI is opening pathways to the rich historical tradition of the ancient Middle East. In close collaboration with researchers, museums and an engaged public, the project seeks to unharness the extraordinary content of these earliest witnesses to our shared world heritage.

An example image: https://cdli.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/dl/photo/P000001.jpg

Nasa Images

Generate a IIIF Collection using a search term from the NASA photo archive.

Collection URL:https://nasa.stephen.wf/search/Docked%20STS-132%20Atlantis/1
View in Theseus Viewer