Two Institutions, Two Catalogs, and the Archival API Standard That Doesn’t Exist

NARA and the Library of Congress describe archives similarly. Their APIs tell a very different story.

There is a document in the Library of Congress. Its title, as returned by the loc.gov API, reads:

Blackwell Family Papers: Alice Stone Blackwell Papers, 1848-1957; Subject File, 1870-1957; Articles; 6 of 9

There is a document at the National Archives. Its title, as returned by the NARA Catalog API, reads:

Certificates 876-1290

Both records document the same…