Science Museum Group

The Science Museum Group operates five UK science and technology museums: the Science Museum (London), the Science and Industry Museum (Manchester), the National Railway Museum (York), the National Science and Media Museum (Bradford), and Locomotion (Shildon). The group provides an open Collection API giving developers programmatic access to over 7 million objects, people, and documents in the museum collections via a JSONAPI-compliant REST interface. The API is free to use and supports searching, filtering, and retrieval of collection items with rich metadata, images, and curatorial notes.

1 APIs 0 Features

MuseumsCollectionsCultural HeritageOpen DataScienceTechnologyUnited Kingdom

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Collections Portal

Collections Portal

Sources

opencollection: 1.0.0
info:
  name: Science Museum Group Collection API
  version: 1.0.0
items:
- info:
    name: Search
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Search All Collection Types
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/search
      params:
      - name: q
        value: steam engine
        type: query
        description: Full-text search query term
      - name: random
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Return N random records from the collection
      - name: page[number]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Zero-indexed page number for pagination
      - name: page[size]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Number of results per page (max 100)
      - name: date[from]
        value: '1800'
        type: query
        description: Filter results from this date (year, year-month, or full date)
      - name: date[to]
        value: '1900'
        type: query
        description: Filter results up to this date (year, year-month, or full date)
      - name: places
        value: France
        type: query
        description: Filter by geographical association
      - name: images
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter to only items with available images
    docs: Perform a full-text or filtered search across objects, people, and documents in the Science Museum Group collection.
      Returns JSONAPI-formatted results with pagination, relevance scoring, and filter aggregations.
- info:
    name: Objects
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Search Collection Objects
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/search/objects
      params:
      - name: q
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Full-text search query term
      - name: type
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by object type
      - name: makers
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by maker or manufacturer name
      - name: people
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by associated person
      - name: categories
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by collection category
      - name: museum
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by museum code (NRM, SMG, NMeM, MSI)
      - name: on_display
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter to objects currently on display
      - name: location
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by gallery or storage location
      - name: images
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter to objects with available images
      - name: places
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by geographical association
      - name: date[from]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter from date
      - name: date[to]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter to date
      - name: page[number]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Zero-indexed page number
      - name: page[size]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Results per page (max 100)
    docs: Search for physical objects and artifacts in the Science Museum Group collection. Supports filtering by object type,
      makers, people, categories, museum branch, on-display status, and location.
  - info:
      name: Get Collection Object
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/:id
      params:
      - name: id
        value: co26704
        type: path
        description: Unique collection object identifier (e.g., co26704)
    docs: Retrieve a single collection object by its unique identifier. Returns the full JSONAPI resource record including
      all metadata, image references, relationships to people and documents, and curatorial notes.
- info:
    name: People
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Search Collection People
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/search/people
      params:
      - name: q
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Full-text search query term
      - name: birth[place]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by birth place
      - name: birth[date]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by birth date (year or year-month)
      - name: death[date]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by death date (year or year-month)
      - name: occupation
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by occupation or profession
      - name: places
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by geographical association
      - name: images
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter to people with available images
      - name: page[number]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Zero-indexed page number
      - name: page[size]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Results per page (max 100)
    docs: Search for people associated with the Science Museum Group collection, including scientists, engineers, makers,
      and historical figures. Supports filtering by birth place, birth date, death date, occupation, and geographical associations.
  - info:
      name: Get Collection Person
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/people/:id
      params:
      - name: id
        value: cp22644
        type: path
        description: Unique person identifier
    docs: Retrieve a single person record by its unique identifier. Returns the full JSONAPI resource record including biographical
      information, image references, and relationships to collection objects and documents.
- info:
    name: Documents
    type: folder
  items:
  - info:
      name: Search Collection Documents
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/search/documents
      params:
      - name: q
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Full-text search query term
      - name: makers
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by document creator or maker
      - name: people
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by associated person
      - name: archive
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by archive reference
      - name: places
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter by geographical association
      - name: date[from]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter from date
      - name: date[to]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter to date
      - name: images
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Filter to documents with available images
      - name: page[number]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Zero-indexed page number
      - name: page[size]
        value: ''
        type: query
        description: Results per page (max 100)
    docs: Search for documents, archives, and written records in the Science Museum Group collection. Supports filtering by
      makers, associated people, and archive reference.
  - info:
      name: Get Collection Document
      type: http
    http:
      method: GET
      url: https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/documents/:id
      params:
      - name: id
        value: cd23456
        type: path
        description: Unique document identifier
    docs: Retrieve a single document record by its unique identifier. Returns the full JSONAPI resource record including document
      metadata, image references, archive location, and relationships to people and objects.
bundled: true

Science Museum Group

APIs

Science Museum Group Collection API

Collections

Science Museum Group Collection API

Pricing Plans

Science Museum Group Plans Pricing

Rate Limits

Science Museum Group Rate Limits

FinOps

Science Museum Group Finops

Semantic Vocabularies

Science Museum Group Context

API Governance Rules

Science Museum Group API Rules

JSON Structure

Science Museum Group Collection Object Structure

Example Payloads

Science Museum Group Get Object Example

Science Museum Group Search Objects Example

Resources

Sources