---
license: cc0-1.0
task_categories:
  - feature-extraction
  - text-generation
language:
  - en
tags:
  - museums
  - cultural-heritage
  - smithsonian
  - open-access
  - metadata
pretty_name: Smithsonian Open Access
size_categories:
  - 10M<n<100M
---

# Smithsonian Open Access Data

Pre-processed data dumps from the [Smithsonian Open Access](https://www.si.edu/openaccess) initiative, covering millions of objects across Smithsonian Institution museums and archives.

## What is this?

The Smithsonian publishes their Open Access metadata on S3, but the raw data is split across 255 individual `.txt` files per unit. This dataset consolidates each unit's data into a single `.jsonl.gz` file for easier downloading and processing.

## Files

Each file corresponds to a Smithsonian unit:

| File | Unit |
|------|------|
| `aaa.jsonl.gz` | Archives of American Art |
| `acah.jsonl.gz` | Archives Center, American History |
| `acm.jsonl.gz` | Anacostia Community Museum |
| `cfchfolklife.jsonl.gz` | Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage |
| `chndm.jsonl.gz` | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum |
| `eepa.jsonl.gz` | Eliot Elisofon Photographic Archives |
| `fbr.jsonl.gz` | Smithsonian Field Book Registry |
| `fsa.jsonl.gz` | Freer-Sackler Archives |
| `fsg.jsonl.gz` | Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery |
| `hac.jsonl.gz` | Horticulture Archives Collection |
| `hmsg.jsonl.gz` | Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden |
| `hsfa.jsonl.gz` | Human Studies Film Archives |
| `naa.jsonl.gz` | National Anthropological Archives |
| `nasm.jsonl.gz` | National Air and Space Museum |
| `nmaahc.jsonl.gz` | National Museum of African American History and Culture |
| `nmafa.jsonl.gz` | National Museum of African Art |
| `nmah.jsonl.gz` | National Museum of American History |
| `nmai.jsonl.gz` | National Museum of the American Indian |
| `nmnhanthro.jsonl.gz` | NMNH - Anthropology |
| `nmnhbirds.jsonl.gz` | NMNH - Birds |
| `nmnhbotany.jsonl.gz` | NMNH - Botany |
| `nmnheducation.jsonl.gz` | NMNH - Education |
| `nmnhento.jsonl.gz` | NMNH - Entomology |
| `nmnhfishes.jsonl.gz` | NMNH - Fishes |

## Usage
```bash
# Clone the entire dataset
git clone https://huggingface.co/datasets/museado/smithsonian-data

# Or download individual files
wget https://huggingface.co/datasets/museado/smithsonian-data/resolve/main/nmah.jsonl.gz

# Decompress and explore
gunzip -c nmah.jsonl.gz | head -1 | jq .
```

## Data Format

Each line is a JSON object representing a single Smithsonian record. The structure follows the Smithsonian's EDAN (Enterprise Digital Asset Network) schema.

## Source

Original data from: `https://smithsonian-open-access.s3-us-west-2.amazonaws.com/metadata/edan/`

## License

The underlying data is released by the Smithsonian under [CC0](https://www.si.edu/openaccess/faq).

## Maintainer

[Museado Foundation](https://museado.org)