The National Archives, the official archive of the UK government, has reportedly made details of 11 million records available through an application programming interface (API) it published as part of an ongoing programme to get more official records online.
The API allows searching for and retrieving the metadata that describes records in the archive in XML format. The data can then be used without restriction or charge. But the archive, which is simultaneously an executive agency of the Department of Justice and a government department in its own right, continues to charge £3.50 per document to retrieve actual records online.
The API allows search and analysis of metadata such as a physical description of the physical record held at the National Archives' site in Kew, along with a summary description, an administrative history and details of its origin. The National Archives is talking with other public and private bodies about merging their archive catalogues with its own.
The National Archives is also working an e-commerce system. The API may further boost the market in genealogical services, it is expected. Most of the National Archives' 11 million records are still on paper, each containing pages that can number in the thousands. It contains collections unlikely to be digitised for lack of public interest. Access to paper records is still free of charge at the archive's site in Kew.
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