OAI-PMH API

OpenArchives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting API

Published

July 17, 2024

API is available here: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=Identify.
User registration is available here: https://amcr.aiscr.cz/accounts/register/.
This guide is valid for version 2.0.0 of the service and the schema.

OAI-PMH AMCR API provides metadata from the AMCR database using the OpenArchives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH). The implementation supports two metadata standards:

Dublin Core – AMCR basic metadata serialised using Dublin Core elements from the DCMI schema for unqualified Dublin Core according to OAI-PMH specification;
AMCR XML – native format with a complete representation of the whole AMCR database.

The API response is an XML file.

Access

The access to some metadata is protected by user roles:

A (anonymous) – anyone on the internet accessing AMCR services,
B (researcher) – registered user,
C (archaeologist) – archaeologist from a licensed organisation,
D (archivist) – authorised AMCR archivist.

Registration to the system is available here.

Accessibility is automatically assessed for each record based on the user’s role, organisational affiliation and the processing state of the record. If the record or part of it is inaccessible, the corresponding element will return an HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden string. The rules are applied as detailed in the following tables. The first table defines the basic rules for the record to be visible, the second table lists the effects of the limited accessibility defined on the individual record level.

Basic rules for the record visibility
element	A	B	C	D
projekt	stav = 6	stav = 6	stav > 0	✔
projekt/oznamovatel	✘	✘	stav = 1 OR my organisation record	✔
archeologicky_zaznam	stav = 3	✔	✔	✔
let	✔	✔	✔	✔
adb	stav_pom = 3	✔	✔	✔
dokument	stav = 3	✔	✔	✔
ext_zdroj	stav = 3	✔	✔	✔
pian	stav = 2	✔	✔	✔
samostatny_nalez	stav = 4	stav = 4 OR my record	stav = 4 OR my organisation record	✔
uzivatel	✘	my record	my record	✔
heslo	✔	✔	✔	✔
ruian_kraj	✔	✔	✔	✔
ruian_okres	✔	✔	✔	✔
ruian_katastr	✔	✔	✔	✔
organizace	✔	✔	✔	✔
osoba	✔	✔	✔	✔

stav – processing state of the record, see Documentation (in Czech language only)
my record – record created by the user
my organisation record – record created by someone from user’s organisation

Effects of the limited accessibility
element with required role	protected element
projekt/pristupnost_pom	projekt/chranene_udaje
archeologicky_zaznam/pristupnost	archeologicky_zaznam/chranene_udaje
archeologicky_zaznam/pristupnost	archeologicky_zaznam/akce/chranene_udaje
archeologicky_zaznam/pristupnost	archeologicky_zaznam/lokalita/chranene_udaje
adb/pristupnost_pom	adb/chranene_udaje
pian/pristupnost_pom	pian/chranene_udaje
samostatny_nalez/pristupnost	samostatny_nalez/chranene_udaje

Specification

Schema

Schema (XSD) for current version of the service can be found here: https://api.aiscr.cz/schema/amcr/2.0/. The schema follows the AMCR data structure as described here. Main entities are represented as records in individual sets (see below), with all direct children listed in the XML hierarchical structure.

Filters

Sets

Selective querying can be achieved using predefined sets. Description of sets’ contents is available at: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListSets.

Available sets
setSpec	setName	vocabulary
projekt	Projekty / Projects	✘
archeologicky_zaznam	Archeologické záznamy / Archaeological Records	✘
archeologicky_zaznam:akce	Akce / Fieldwork Events	✘
archeologicky_zaznam:lokalita	Lokality / Sites	✘
let	Lety / Flights	✘
adb	Archeologické dokumentační body / Archaeological Documentation Points	✘
dokument	Dokumenty / Documents	✘
ext_zdroj	Externí zdroje / External Sources	✘
pian	PIAN / Spatial Units	✘
samostatny_nalez	Samostatné nálezy / Individual Finds	✘
uzivatel	Uživatelé / Users	✘
heslo	Hesláře / Vocabularies	✔
ruian_kraj	RÚIAN - Kraje / RÚIAN – Regions	✔
ruian_okres	RÚIAN - Okresy / RÚIAN – Districts	✔
ruian_katastr	RÚIAN - Katastrální území / RÚIAN - Cadastral Municipality	✔
organizace	Organizace / Organisations	✔
osoba	Osoby / Persons	✔

Datestamps and deleted records

In ListIdentifiers and ListRecords requests it is possible to filter based on optional query argument datestamp. (from – until).

The datestamp reflects the last change to the record. The API also keeps track of deleted records that are no longer available in AMCR. Such records are still listed in the results, while the datestamp marks the date of deletion. Deleted records are marked with the status="deleted" attribute in the header element of the record (i.e. <header status="deleted">). Therefore, datestamps and from/until arguments can be used to continuously update previous harvests.

Login and authorization

To be able to access records with limited accessibility, it is neccessary to login using Basic Access Authentication while sending the requests.

cURL

Use flag -u tu put in your username and password in each request.

curl -u <username>:<password> <GET request>

Postman

In Postman, username and password can be set up on the Authorization tab. Select Basic Auth in the TYPE menu.

Verbs

OAI-PMH protocol defines several verbs that allow metadata harvesting, the specification is available here.

Identify

Verb Identify is used to get information about the repository.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=Identify

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=Identify'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-11T12:26:50Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="Identify">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <Identify>
    <repositoryName>Archaeological Map of the Czech Republic (AMCR)</repositoryName>
    <baseURL>https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</baseURL>
    <protocolVersion>2.0</protocolVersion>
    <adminEmail>info@amapa.cz</adminEmail>
    <earliestDatestamp>1990-01-01</earliestDatestamp>
    <deletedRecord>persistent</deletedRecord>
    <granularity>YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ</granularity>
    <description>
      <rightsManifest xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/rights/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/rightsManifest.xsd" appliesTo="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/entity#metadata">
        <rights>
          <rightsReference ref="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/rdf"/>
        </rights>
      </rightsManifest>
    </description>
    <description>
      <oai_dc:dc xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
        <dc:title xml:lang="cs">Archeologická mapa České Republiky (AMCR)</dc:title>
        <dc:title xml:lang="en">Archaeological Map of the Czech Republic (AMCR)</dc:title>
        [...]
        <dc:identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/</dc:identifier>
        <dc:identifier>version 2.0.0</dc:identifier>
        [...]
      </oai_dc:dc>
    </description>
  </Identify>
</OAI-PMH>

ListMetadataFormats

Verb ListMetadataFormats returns available metadata formats/standards.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListMetadataFormats

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListMetadataFormats'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-11T12:46:31Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListMetadataFormats">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListMetadataFormats>
    <metadataFormat>
      <metadataPrefix>oai_dc</metadataPrefix>
      <schema>http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd</schema>
      <metadataNamespace>http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/</metadataNamespace>
    </metadataFormat>
    <metadataFormat>
      <metadataPrefix>oai_amcr</metadataPrefix>
      <schema>https://api.aiscr.cz/schema/amcr/2.0/amcr.xsd</schema>
      <metadataNamespace>https://api.aiscr.cz/schema/amcr/2.0/</metadataNamespace>
    </metadataFormat>
  </ListMetadataFormats>
</OAI-PMH>

Supported metadata formats are:

Dublin Core – metadataPrefix=oai_dc, schema available here,
native AMCR .xml format – metadataPrefix=oai_amcr, schema available here.

ListSets

Verb ListSets lists available sets.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListSets

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListSets'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-11T13:28:01Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListSets">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListSets>
    <set>
      <setSpec>projekt</setSpec>
      <setName>Projekty / Projects</setName>
      <setDescription>
        <oai_dc:dc xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
          <dc:description xml:lang="cs">
            Evidenční jednotky terénní činnosti badatelského nebo záchranného rázu evidované již ve fázi přípravy. Pro vymezení projektu je rozhodující podnět k výzkumu a provádějící subjekt (oprávněná organizace), lokalizace a příp. projektová dokumentace. Na projekt zpravidla navazuje jedna či (méně často) více terénních akcí či evidence samostatných nálezů.
          </dc:description>
          <dc:description xml:lang="en">
            Records of field activities of a research or development-led nature recorded in the preparation phase. For the definition of the project, the motivation and the implementing body (authorised organisation), the location and, if applicable, the project documentation are decisive. The project is usually followed by one or (less frequently) more fieldwork, or the recording of individual finds.
          </dc:description>
        </oai_dc:dc>
      </setDescription>
    </set>
    [...]
  </ListSets>
</OAI-PMH>

ListIdentifiers

Verb ListIdentifiers lists record headers. Required argument is metadataPrefix, optional arguments allow filtering based on predefined sets (set) and/or datestamps (from, until). Only first page with limited amount of records is returned, to go to the next page, user has to submit a resumptionToken returned in the response.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListIdentifiers&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListIdentifiers&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-11T12:51:03Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListIdentifiers" metadataPrefix="oai_amcr">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListIdentifiers>
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/C-202013149</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-07-11T12:27:13.968Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>projekt</setSpec>
      </header>
    </record>
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/P-0334-000377</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-07-11T12:12:19.386Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>pian</setSpec>
      </header>
    </record>
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/C-DL-200400209</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-07-11T12:10:48.403Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>dokument</setSpec>
      </header>
    </record>
    [...]
    <resumptionToken completeListSize="859203" expirationDate="2024-07-23T06:33:12Z" cursor="0">BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90</resumptionToken>
  </ListIdentifiers>
</OAI-PMH>

ListRecords

Verb ListRecords lists records. Required argument is metadataPrefix, optional arguments allow filtering based on predefined sets (set) and/or datestamps (from, until). Only first page with limited amount of records is returned, to go to the next page, user has to submit a resumptionToken returned in the response.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_dc

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_dc'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-11T13:25:02Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListRecords" metadataPrefix="oai_dc">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListRecords>
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/C-202013149</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-07-11T12:27:13.968Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>projekt</setSpec>
      </header>
      <metadata>
        <oai_dc:dc xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
          <oai_dc:dc xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/oai_dc.xsd">
            <dc:title xml:lang="cs">AMCR - projekt C-202013149</dc:title>
            <dc:identifier>C-202013149</dc:identifier>
            <dc:subject xml:lang="cs">projekt</dc:subject>
            <dc:description xml:lang="cs">Stav: 6</dc:description>
            <dc:type>http://base_url/id/HES-000865</dc:type>
            [...]
          </oai_dc:dc>
        </oai_dc:dc>
      </metadata>
    </record>
    <resumptionToken completeListSize="859203" expirationDate="2024-07-23T06:33:12Z" cursor="0">BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90</resumptionToken>
  </ListRecords>
</OAI-PMH>

GetRecord

Verb GetRecord returns individual record. Required arguments are metadataPrefix and identifier (unique identifier of the record, URI). Unique identifier of individual record is in the header of each record in the element with tag <identifier>. The contents of <identifier> element is derived from a unique identifier of the given record usually stored in the <amcr:ident_cely> prefixed with namespace according to the API endpoint, i.e. string https://api.aiscr.cz/id/.

Resulting URL acts as an alias to GetRecord in the oai_amcr schema for the specified record, and is automatically translated into the appropriate request. Therefore it can be used to easily refer specific records in the API.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=GetRecord&identifier=https://api.aiscr.cz/id/M-FT-110598700&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=GetRecord&identifier=https://api.aiscr.cz/id/M-FT-110598700&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-15T09:04:59Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="GetRecord" identifier="https://api.aiscr.cz/id/M-FT-110598700" metadataPrefix="oai_amcr">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <GetRecord>
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/M-FT-110598700</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-05-09T12:39:30.474Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>dokument</setSpec>
      </header>
      <metadata>
        <amcr:amcr xsi:schemaLocation="https://api.aiscr.cz/schema/amcr/2.0/ https://api.aiscr.cz/schema/amcr/2.0/amcr.xsd http://www.opengis.net/gml/3.2 http://schemas.opengis.net/gml/3.2.1/gml.xsd"> HTTP/1.1 403 Forbidden </amcr:amcr>
      </metadata>
    </record>
  </GetRecord>
</OAI-PMH>

Arguments

Some requests (verbs) have required arguments (typically specifying the metadata format with metadataPrefix) and some have optional arguments allowing filtration, pagination etc.

Required and optional query arguments
verb	required	optional
Identify	-	-
ListMetadataFormats	-	identifier
ListIdentifiers	metadataPrefix	set, from, until, resumptionToken
ListRecords	metadataPrefix	set, from, until, resumptionToken
GetRecord	identifier, metadataPrefix	-
ListSets	-	resumptionToken

Pagination

In case of ListIdentifiers, ListRecords and ListSets requests, only the first page of results is returned. To get another page, a resumptionToken returned at the end of the response must be used as an argument in the following request. Argument resumptionToken should be always the last argument in the request.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-15T11:57:23Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListRecords" metadataPrefix="oai_amcr">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListRecords>
    <record>
      <header>
        [...]
      </header>
      <metadata>
        [...]
      </metadata>
    </record>
    <resumptionToken completeListSize="859203" expirationDate="2024-07-23T06:33:12Z" cursor="0">BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90</resumptionToken>
  </ListRecords>
</OAI-PMH>

Follow up request with resumptionToken: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListRecords&resumptionToken=BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListRecords&resumptionToken=BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90'

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-15T12:01:28Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListRecords" resumptionToken="BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListRecords>
    <record>
      <header>
        [...]
      </header>
      <metadata>
        [...]
      </metadata>
    </record>
    <resumptionToken completeListSize="859206" expirationDate="2024-07-24T16:12:38Z" cursor="100">7C6DD5774E7C5493819FF48540A24546</resumptionToken>
  </ListRecords>
</OAI-PMH>

Notice the attributes of the resumptionToken element completeListSize indicating total number of results and cursor indicating that the first record in the given response is n-th returned record.

Each resumption token also has set expiration date until when it can be used to acquire the next page. Please note that the data in the API is constantly updated so it is advisable to harvest the results at once to avoid possible inconsistencies in the response.

Filters

Selective harvesting is allowed thanks to datestamps of records and sets.

Sets

Available sets of records are returned using the ListSets verb. The contents of the <setSpec> element can be used in a set argument in ListIdentifiers and ListRecords requests.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListIdentifiers&set=pian&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListIdentifiers&set=pian&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-15T12:17:21Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListIdentifiers" set="pian" metadataPrefix="oai_amcr">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListIdentifiers>
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/P-1223-101288</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-07-15T11:13:45.237Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>pian</setSpec>
      </header>
    </record>
    [...]
    <resumptionToken completeListSize="859203" expirationDate="2024-07-23T06:33:12Z" cursor="0">BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90</resumptionToken>
  </ListIdentifiers>
</OAI-PMH>

Datestamps

Arguments from and until in ListIdentifiers and ListRecords requests allow filtering based on a datestamp of the given record. Use timestamps in ISO-8601 standard format, i.e. YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ or its subset.

Request: https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListIdentifiers&set=projekt&from=2023-04-21&until=2024-04-27&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr

curl 'https://api.aiscr.cz/oai?verb=ListIdentifiers&set=projekt&from=2023-04-21&until=2024-04-27&metadataPrefix=oai_amcr'

Sample response:

<OAI-PMH xsi:schemaLocation="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/ http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/OAI-PMH.xsd">
  <responseDate>2024-07-15T12:20:21Z</responseDate>
  <request verb="ListIdentifiers" set="projekt" from="2023-04-21" until="2024-04-27" metadataPrefix="oai_amcr">https://api.aiscr.cz/oai</request>
  <ListIdentifiers>
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/M-202204394</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-04-26T13:08:37.256Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>projekt</setSpec>
      </header>
    </record>
    [...]
    <record>
      <header>
        <identifier>https://api.aiscr.cz/id/C-202401944</identifier>
        <datestamp>2024-03-17T06:32:08.143Z</datestamp>
        <setSpec>projekt</setSpec>
      </header>
    </record>
    <resumptionToken completeListSize="859203" expirationDate="2024-07-23T06:33:12Z" cursor="0">BF0A0598B38E42E3FEB4E639B2911C90</resumptionToken>
  </ListIdentifiers>
</OAI-PMH>