# Harvard Library LibraryCloud API (Open Metadata)

**Canonical:** https://apis.io/apis/harvard/librarycloud/  
**Provider:** Harvard University — https://apis.io/providers/harvard/  
**Base URL:** https://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items.json  
**Documentation:** https://library.harvard.edu/services-tools/harvard-library-apis-datasets

Harvard Library LibraryCloud API (Open Metadata) is one of 14 APIs that [Harvard University](https://apis.io/providers/harvard/) publishes on the [APIs.io](https://apis.io/) network. This API exposes 1 JSON Schema definition. Tagged areas include Libraries, Open Metadata, Bibliographic, MODS, and Dublin Core. The published artifact set on APIs.io includes API documentation and 1 JSON Schema.

Open metadata hub aggregating Harvard bibliographic metadata (12.7M+ bib records, image records, ArchivesSpace finding aids) and returning normalized MODS or Dublin Core. The public Item API needs no key and is served from Harvard's own infrastructure (api.lib.harvard.edu -> api-prod.hz.lib.harvard.edu on AWS). Harvard publishes no machine-readable contract for it; a schema derived from a live response is stored under json-schema/. Note the defect recorded in errors/: a non-numeric limit parameter returns a Tomcat HTML 500 rather than a 400.

## Machine-readable artifacts (4)

- **Documentation** — https://library.harvard.edu/services-tools/harvard-library-apis-datasets
- **GitHub** — https://github.com/harvard-library/librarycloud
- **JSONSchema** — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/harvard/refs/heads/main/json-schema/harvard-librarycloud-item.schema.json
- **Examples** — https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/harvard/refs/heads/main/examples/harvard-librarycloud-item-response.json

## Other Harvard University APIs (12)

- [Harvard Dataverse API](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/dataverse/)
- [Harvard Dataverse OAI-PMH](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/dataverse-oai/)
- [Harvard Art Museums API](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/art-museums/)
- [Harvard University Shibboleth Identity Provider (InCommon)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/identity-federation/)
- [Legal Ed Skills Hub (Harvard Law School Library Innovation Lab)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/lil-lawskills/)
- [Caselaw Access Project bulk data (Harvard Library Innovation Lab)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/caselaw-access-project/)
- [Perma.cc API (Harvard Library Innovation Lab)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/perma/)
- [Harvard API Portal (HUIT)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/api-portal/)
- [Harvard DASH institutional repository (4Science-managed DSpace)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/dash/)
- [HOLLIS library discovery (Ex Libris Primo VE tenancy)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/hollis/)
- [Harvard Figshare tenancy](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/figshare/)
- [Canvas LMS tenancy (Instructure)](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/canvas/)

## Tags

Libraries, Open Metadata, Bibliographic, MODS, Dublin Core

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Profiled by [API Evangelist](https://apievangelist.com) and published on [APIs.io](https://apis.io/apis/harvard/librarycloud/). The API's provider profile, Kin Score and agent-readiness rating are at https://apis.io/providers/harvard/.