Lancaster University

aid: lancaster
name: Lancaster University
description: 'Lancaster University is a collegiate public research university in Lancaster, United Kingdom, a member of the
  N8 Research Partnership and, at the time of writing, not a Russell Group member. It operates no central developer portal,
  no API gateway, no API key programme and no published API programme, and this profile records that plainly. What it does
  operate, on hosts it owns, is a small but genuine set of machine-readable surfaces: the Lancaster EPrints institutional
  repository answers a complete, unauthenticated OAI-PMH 2.0 interface at eprints.lancs.ac.uk with seven metadata formats
  including RIOXX and uketd_dc, and Lancaster runs its own Shibboleth Identity Provider at idp.lancs.ac.uk, self-publishing
  SAML 2.0 metadata and registered with the UK Access Federation since 2014 and exported to eduGAIN. Both are institution-operated
  and both are recorded here as such. Two further surfaces look like Lancaster''s and are not: the research directory at research.lancaster-university.uk
  CNAMEs to lancaster.elsevierpure.com and the OneSearch discovery layer CNAMEs to lancaster.primo.exlibrisgroup.com, so Elsevier
  Pure and Ex Libris Primo VE wrote those contracts, not Lancaster — they are recorded as tenant relationships and their specifications
  are deliberately not saved under this slug. Lancaster''s most substantial public engineering output is not an API at all:
  the github.com/lancaster-university organisation is where the BBC micro:bit runtime (microbit-dal) and its successor CODAL
  were written, and github.com/lulibrary holds the University Library''s own open-source Alma, Pure and research-data tooling.'
x-type: university
x-category: Public Research University
type: Index
deliveryModel:
  model: saas
  open_source: false
  commercial: false
  callable_host: true
  label: Institution-operated endpoints · no commercial API product
  confidence: high
  source:
  - openapi
  - probed
  generated: '2026-08-30'
  method: probed
accessModel:
  pricing: free
  onboarding: none
  trial: false
  try_now: true
  public: true
  label: Free · No registration for the two institution-operated public endpoints
  confidence: high
  source:
  - authentication
  - probed
  generated: '2026-08-30'
  method: probed
position: Consuming
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-images.s3.amazonaws.com/shared/apis-json/icons/lancaster.png
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/lancaster/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
tags:
- University
- Higher Education
- Education
- United Kingdom
- N8 Research Partnership
- Research Data
- Institutional Repository
- Identity Federation
- Library
- Open-Source
tags_raw:
- University
- Higher Education
- Education
- United Kingdom
- N8 Research Partnership
- Research Data
- Institutional Repository
- Identity Federation
- Library
- Open Source
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-08-30'
specificationVersion: '0.23'
apis:
- aid: lancaster:lancaster-oai2-api
  name: Lancaster EPrints OAI-PMH 2.0 Interface
  description: 'The one unambiguous, institution-operated public API Lancaster runs. A single HTTP endpoint that dispatches
    on the OAI-PMH `verb` parameter and returns OAI-PMH 2.0 XML envelopes for the Lancaster EPrints institutional repository.
    Unauthenticated, no registration, full set hierarchy, working flow control, and seven metadata formats — didl, mets, oai_bibl,
    oai_dc, rdf, rioxx and uketd_dc. Note the licensing gap: the repository''s own Identify response says "No metadata policy
    defined... if in doubt assume that NO rights at all are granted to this data", so harvesting is technically open and legally
    undeclared.'
  humanURL: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/
  baseURL: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2
  x-operator: institution
  x-operator-evidence: 'eprints.lancs.ac.uk is under lancs.ac.uk, which Nominet WHOIS records as "Registered For: University
    of Lancaster" with nameservers ns1/ns2.lancs.ac.uk; www.lancaster.ac.uk itself CNAMEs to lancs.ac.uk, so the two are one
    institution. The Identify response returns repositoryName "Lancaster EPrints" and adminEmail library.dit@lancaster.ac.uk.
    Probed 2026-08-30: ?verb=Identify 200 text/xml, ?verb=ListMetadataFormats 200, ?verb=ListSets 200, ?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=rioxx
    200 with a resumptionToken. The software is EPrints 3.4.5 from the University of Southampton, but the host, the endpoint
    and the content are Lancaster''s — an institution-operated deployment, not a vendor tenancy.'
  tags:
  - OAI-PMH
  - Institutional Repository
  - Research Data
  - Metadata Harvesting
  - EPrints
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/lancaster-oai2-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2?verb=Identify
  - type: JSONSchema
    url: json-schema/lancaster-record-schema.json
  - type: x-json-structure
    url: json-structure/lancaster-record-structure.json
  - type: x-spectral-rules
    url: rules/lancaster-rules.yml
  - type: x-vocabulary
    url: vocabulary/lancaster-vocabulary.yml
  - type: x-json-ld
    url: json-ld/lancaster-context.jsonld
  - type: x-example
    url: examples/lancaster-getrecord-example.json
  - type: Errors
    url: errors/lancaster-errors.yml
  - type: Authentication
    url: authentication/lancaster-authentication.yml
  - type: Conformance
    url: conformance/lancaster-education-standards-conformance.yml
- aid: lancaster:identity-federation
  name: Lancaster Shibboleth Identity Provider (SAML 2.0 metadata)
  description: Lancaster operates its own Shibboleth Identity Provider and self-publishes its SAML 2.0 EntityDescriptor at
    the canonical /idp/shibboleth location. The entity has been registered with the UK Access Federation since 16 April 2014
    and is exported to eduGAIN, so the same signed metadata is retrievable from the federation's MDQ service. Identity federation
    is institution-operated by definition — no vendor sits between the university and this document. This is the surface class
    the June 2026 university cohort never catalogued, and for Lancaster it is the second of only two genuinely institution-run
    machine-readable endpoints.
  humanURL: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/iss/
  baseURL: https://idp.lancs.ac.uk
  x-operator: institution
  x-operator-evidence: Probed 2026-08-30. GET https://idp.lancs.ac.uk/idp/shibboleth returns 200, application/xml;charset=utf-8,
    5341 bytes, an <EntityDescriptor> with entityID "https://idp.lancs.ac.uk/idp/shibboleth", shibmd:Scope lancaster.ac.uk
    and a signing certificate CN=idp.lancs.ac.uk. The UK Access Federation MDQ service returns the same entity signed (200
    application/samlmetadata+xml, validUntil 2026-09-20) with mdrpi:RegistrationInfo registrationAuthority http://ukfederation.org.uk,
    registrationInstant 2014-04-16T16:54:28Z; technical.edugain.org returns it too.
  tags:
  - Identity Federation
  - SAML
  - Shibboleth
  - Single Sign-On
  - eduGAIN
  properties:
  - type: OpenAPI
    url: openapi/lancaster-identityfederation-api-openapi.yml
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://idp.lancs.ac.uk/idp/shibboleth
  - type: Authentication
    url: authentication/lancaster-authentication.yml
  - type: Conformance
    url: conformance/lancaster-education-standards-conformance.yml
- aid: lancaster:pure-research-directory
  name: Lancaster Research Directory (Elsevier Pure) — tenant
  description: 'Lancaster''s research information system and public research directory. The data — outputs, people, projects,
    impact — is Lancaster''s; the platform and the contract are Elsevier''s. research.lancaster-university.uk CNAMEs to lancaster.elsevierpure.com,
    and Pure''s /ws/api web service answers on the tenant host but rejects unversioned calls. Pure''s generic OpenAPI is deliberately
    NOT saved under this slug: an Elsevier Pure contract attributed to the institution is the single largest source of the
    misattribution the university pipeline exists to prevent, and it is exactly how Manchester ended up wearing 36 Pure specs.'
  humanURL: https://research.lancaster-university.uk/
  baseURL: https://research.lancaster-university.uk/ws/api
  x-operator: tenant
  x-operator-evidence: Probed 2026-08-30. https://research.lancaster-university.uk/ 200; DNS resolves research.lancaster-university.uk
    CNAME lancaster.elsevierpure.com CNAME eu.prod.elsevierpure.com. The page markup carries Elsevier and Pure branding. GET
    /ws/api answers HTTP 500 with the JSON body {"timestamp":1788121079344,"status":999,"error":"None"} — Pure's web service
    is present and version-gated, live rather than dead. Institution vanity hostname, vendor platform, vendor contract.
  x-vendor: Elsevier (Pure)
  tags:
  - Research Information
  - Pure
  - Research Data
  - CRIS
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://research.lancaster-university.uk/
- aid: lancaster:library-discovery
  name: Lancaster Library Discovery and Services (Ex Libris Alma / Primo VE) — tenant
  description: 'Lancaster University Library runs on the Ex Libris platform: Primo VE for discovery (OneSearch, view identifier
    44LAN_INST:LUL_VU1) and Alma for the library services platform behind it, whose getUser / getUserCash / getUserLoans /
    renewUserLoans web services supply loans, fines and renewals to the iLancaster app and student portal. The tenancy is
    real and is a genuine institutional fact; the API contract is Ex Libris''s and is not saved here. Note that Lancaster''s
    own vanity host onesearch.lancaster.ac.uk resolves to a Lancaster IP but presents a self-signed certificate (subject CN=localhost)
    before redirecting, so any pointer at that hostname will read as dead to a TLS-verifying client — the working entry point
    is the lancaster-university.uk host below.'
  humanURL: https://onesearch.lancaster-university.uk/discovery/search?vid=44LAN_INST:LUL_VU1
  x-operator: tenant
  x-operator-evidence: Probed 2026-08-30. https://onesearch.lancaster-university.uk/discovery/search?vid=44LAN_INST:LUL_VU1
    200, serving Primo Explore markup; DNS resolves onesearch.lancaster-university.uk CNAME lancaster.primo.exlibrisgroup.com
    CNAME eu00.primo.exlibrisgroup.com. The Alma integration is documented on Ex Libris's own developer network, a generic
    vendor host claimed by other institutions in this cohort, which is why the previous profile's host verdict was `vendor`;
    the corrected reading is that Lancaster is an Alma/Primo tenant.
  x-vendor: Ex Libris (Clarivate) — Alma, Primo VE
  tags:
  - Library
  - Alma
  - Primo
  - Discovery
  - Gated
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://developers.exlibrisgroup.com/blog/student-portal-and-institutional-mobile-app-at-lancaster-university/
- aid: lancaster:alma-webhook-handler
  name: Lancaster Library Alma Webhook Handler (open source)
  description: An AWS serverless application written and maintained by Lancaster University Library that listens for Ex Libris
    Alma webhook events and forwards them to backend SNS topics. It is Lancaster's own code, published under github.com/lulibrary
    alongside the Library's Alma cache lambdas, Pure extraction tooling (puree, research_metadata, DMAOnline) and Talis Aspire
    reading-list tools. It is reference implementation and infrastructure, not a callable Lancaster endpoint, and is recorded
    as such rather than counted as a hosted API.
  humanURL: https://github.com/lulibrary/alma-webhook-handler
  x-operator: institution
  x-operator-evidence: 'github.com is a code host and says nothing about authorship; the artifact says it about itself. The
    repository belongs to the lulibrary organisation — Lancaster University Library — and describes itself as listening for
    Ex Libris Alma webhook events on the Library''s behalf. Probed 2026-08-30: repository 200, last pushed 2026-06-12. Lancaster''s
    code integrating a vendor''s product, which is institution-authored even though the product is not.'
  tags:
  - Library
  - Alma
  - Webhook
  - Serverless
  - Integration
  tags_raw:
  - Library
  - Alma
  - Webhooks
  - Serverless
  - Integration
  properties:
  - type: Documentation
    url: https://github.com/lulibrary/alma-webhook-handler
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/lulibrary/alma-webhook-handler
common:
- type: Website
  url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/
- type: Documentation
  url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2?verb=Identify
- type: APIReference
  url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2?verb=ListMetadataFormats
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/lancaster-university
- type: GitHubOrganization
  url: https://github.com/lulibrary
- type: ResearchRepository
  url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/
- type: ResearchRepository
  url: https://research.lancaster-university.uk/
- type: LibraryCatalog
  url: https://onesearch.lancaster-university.uk/discovery/search?vid=44LAN_INST:LUL_VU1
- type: CourseCatalog
  url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/courses/
- type: IdentityFederation
  url: https://idp.lancs.ac.uk/idp/shibboleth
- type: IdentityFederation
  url: http://mdq.ukfederation.org.uk/entities/https%3A%2F%2Fidp.lancs.ac.uk%2Fidp%2Fshibboleth
- type: AIPolicy
  url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/embed-digital/digital-teaching-and-learning/generative-artificial-intelligence/
- type: AITooling
  url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/iss/itpi/luca-lancaster-university-careers-assistant/
- type: TermsOfService
  url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/terms/
- type: PrivacyPolicy
  url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/privacy/
- type: Support
  url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/iss/
- type: LinkedIn
  url: https://www.linkedin.com/school/lancaster-university/
- type: Conformance
  url: conformance/lancaster-education-standards-conformance.yml
- type: Errors
  url: errors/lancaster-errors.yml
- type: Authentication
  url: authentication/lancaster-authentication.yml
- type: CapabilityMap
  url: capabilities/lancaster-capability-edges.yml
  name: Lancaster University Business Capability Map
- type: AgenticAccess
  url: agentic-access/lancaster-agentic-access.yml
- type: VulnerabilityDisclosure
  url: security/lancaster-vulnerability-disclosure.yml
- type: DomainSecurity
  url: security/lancaster-domain-security.yml
- type: Rules
  url: rules/lancaster-rules.yml
- type: Rules
  url: rules/lancaster-jsonschema-spectral-rules.yml
- type: Plans
  url: plans/lancaster-plans-pricing.yml
- type: RateLimits
  url: rate-limits/lancaster-rate-limits.yml
- type: FinOps
  url: finops/lancaster-finops.yml
- type: Review
  url: review.yml
x-coverage:
  state: covered
  reason: covered
  detail: 'Nothing blocked this run: more than forty Lancaster hosts and paths were probed successfully on 2026-08-30 and
    the thinness that remains is the institution''s, not a fetch failure. Lancaster operates two public machine-readable surfaces
    of its own and both were verified live and described here — the EPrints OAI-PMH 2.0 interface (Identify, ListMetadataFormats,
    ListSets and a paged rioxx ListRecords all 200) and its Shibboleth Identity Provider''s SAML 2.0 metadata, confirmed independently
    through the UK Access Federation MDQ service and eduGAIN. There is no developer portal, no API gateway, no API key programme,
    no OpenAPI published by the university, no OpenID Connect discovery document and no llms.txt (www.lancaster.ac.uk/llms.txt
    404). api.lancaster.ac.uk, api.lancs.ac.uk, data.lancaster.ac.uk, data.lancs.ac.uk and opendata.lancaster.ac.uk do not
    resolve at all, so there is no course-catalog API and no open-data portal. Two apparent surfaces are vendor contracts
    on institution vanity hostnames and are recorded as tenant relationships rather than credited to Lancaster: Elsevier Pure
    and Ex Libris Primo VE. The student portal and the iLancaster app sit behind CoSign single sign-on at weblogin.lancs.ac.uk
    and expose nothing anonymously. One live defect worth naming: onesearch.lancaster.ac.uk presents a self-signed certificate
    (CN=localhost) before redirecting to the Primo host.'
  evidence:
  - url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2?verb=Identify
    status: 200
  - url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2?verb=ListMetadataFormats
    status: 200
  - url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2?verb=ListSets
    status: 200
  - url: https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/cgi/oai2?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=rioxx
    status: 200
  - url: https://idp.lancs.ac.uk/idp/shibboleth
    status: 200
  - url: http://mdq.ukfederation.org.uk/entities/https%3A%2F%2Fidp.lancs.ac.uk%2Fidp%2Fshibboleth
    status: 200
  - url: https://technical.edugain.org/api.php?action=show_entity&entityid=https://idp.lancs.ac.uk/idp/shibboleth
    status: 200
  - url: https://research.lancaster-university.uk/
    status: 200
    note: live, but Elsevier Pure's contract — tenant (CNAME lancaster.elsevierpure.com)
  - url: https://onesearch.lancaster-university.uk/discovery/search?vid=44LAN_INST:LUL_VU1
    status: 200
    note: live, but Ex Libris Primo VE's contract — tenant (CNAME lancaster.primo.exlibrisgroup.com)
  - url: https://portal.lancaster.ac.uk/
    status: 200
    note: redirects to CoSign single sign-on at weblogin.lancs.ac.uk; nothing anonymous behind it
  - url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/.well-known/security.txt
    status: 200
  - url: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/llms.txt
    status: 404
  - url: https://api.lancaster.ac.uk/
    status: 0
    note: does not resolve
  - url: https://data.lancaster.ac.uk/
    status: 0
    note: does not resolve
  - url: https://onesearch.lancaster.ac.uk/
    status: 0
    note: self-signed certificate (CN=localhost) on a Lancaster IP; TLS verification fails
maintainers:
- FN: Kin Lane
  email: kin@apievangelist.com