University of California, San Diego Search API

openapi: 3.2.0
info:
  title: UC San Diego Library Digital Collections JSON Search API
  description: Public, read-only JSON search-and-retrieval interface over the UC San Diego Library Digital Collections (DC), the Library's locally developed Digital Asset Management System (DAMS).
  version: 2026-08-19
  contact:
    name: UC San Diego Library — Research Data Curation
    email: research-data-curation@ucsd.edu
    url: https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/p/about
  license:
    name: Rights vary per object; see the Digital Collections rights statements
    url: https://library.ucsd.edu/dc/p/collection_policies
servers:
- url: https://library.ucsd.edu
  description: UC San Diego Library Digital Collections (production)
tags:
- name: Search
  description: Faceted search across publicly discoverable digital objects and collections.
paths:
  /dc/search.json:
    get:
      tags:
      - Search
      summary: Search digital collections
      operationId: searchDigitalCollections
      description: Runs a dismax keyword search across publicly discoverable objects and returns the raw Solr response, including facet counts and highlighting. The service applies a server-side filter of `discover_access_group_ssim:public OR discover_access_group_ssim:unknown`, so restricted and embargoed material is never returned to anonymous clients. `GET /dc/search?format=json` returns the same body.
      parameters:
      - name: q
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Keyword query. Boosted across title, name, subject, scope/content note and full text.
        schema:
          type: string
        example: ocean
      - name: rows
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Number of documents to return in the response page.
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          default: 10
      - name: page
        in: query
        required: false
        description: 1-indexed result page.
        schema:
          type: integer
          minimum: 1
          default: 1
      - name: sort
        in: query
        required: false
        description: Solr sort clause, e.g. `score desc` or `title_ssi asc`.
        schema:
          type: string
      responses:
        '200':
          description: Solr search response.
          content:
            application/json:
              schema:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/SolrSearchResponse'
        '404':
          description: Unknown path under /dc.
          content:
            text/html:
              schema:
                type: string
components:
  schemas:
    DigitalObject:
      type: object
      description: Solr document for a digital object. Field names follow the Samvera/Hydra dynamic field suffix convention (_tesim text stored indexed multivalued, _ssi string stored indexed, _sim string indexed multivalued, _dtsi date stored indexed).
      properties:
        id:
          type: string
          description: ARK name segment, also the object's public identifier.
          example: bb38236995
        active_fedora_model_ssi:
          type: string
          description: Fedora model of the record.
          example: DamsObject
        object_state_ssi:
          type: string
          example: A
        title_tesim:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        date_tesim:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        unit_code_tesim:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        collection_name_tesim:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        resource_type_tesim:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        rightsHolder_tesim:
          type: array
          items:
            type: string
        otherRights_tesim:
          type: array
          description: Serialized rights/permission statements including basis and permission type.
          items:
            type: string
        discover_access_group_ssim:
          type: array
          description: Access groups permitted to discover the object; `public` for open material.
          items:
            type: string
        system_create_dtsi:
          type: string
          format: date-time
        system_modified_dtsi:
          type: string
          format: date-time
      additionalProperties: true
    SolrSearchResponse:
      type: object
      description: Raw Solr response envelope as returned by the Blacklight front end.
      properties:
        responseHeader:
          type: object
          properties:
            status:
              type: integer
              example: 0
            QTime:
              type: integer
              example: 15
            params:
              type: object
              additionalProperties: true
        response:
          type: object
          properties:
            numFound:
              type: integer
              example: 12939
            start:
              type: integer
            maxScore:
              type: number
            numFoundExact:
              type: boolean
            docs:
              type: array
              items:
                $ref: '#/components/schemas/DigitalObject'
        facet_counts:
          type: object
          description: Facet field counts. Observed facets include unit_sim, collection_sim, creator_sim, decade_sim, object_type_sim, subject_topic_sim, subject_cruise_sim, subject_lithology_sim, subject_common_name_sim, subject_scientific_name_sim, subject_anatomy_sim, subject_series_sim and subject_cultural_context_sim.
          additionalProperties: true
        highlighting:
          type: object
          additionalProperties: true