Cooper-Hewitt Collection Database
An open collection database from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, providing programmatic access to object metadata and images, included as a museum entry in the Awesome Public Datasets directory.
About this tool
Cooper-Hewitt Collection Database
Overview
The Cooper-Hewitt Collection Database is an open dataset from the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, providing public access to a large portion of the museum’s documented collection. It is distributed via a GitHub repository and is also accessible through a web collection interface.
- Type: Open dataset
- Category: Datasets
- Source: Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum
- Access: Free public download
- Repository: https://github.com/cooperhewitt/collection
Features
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Extensive collection coverage
- Approximately 75% of the museum’s documented collection data made public.
- Mirrors data from the online collection interface: http://collection.cooperhewitt.org
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Structured dataset organization (repository folders)
objects/– Object-level metadata for items in the collection.people/– Data about people associated with the collection (e.g., designers, makers, etc.).departments/– Information about museum departments.exhibitions/– Data related to exhibitions.periods/– Time-period related information (e.g., historical or stylistic periods).roles/– Role definitions for entities in the dataset (e.g., artist, manufacturer).types/– Classification types or categories used within the collection.meta/– Miscellaneous or higher-level metadata and configuration for the dataset.
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Programmatic access & tooling
bin/directory with scripts and tools for working with the dataset (e.g., build, transform, or export tasks).Makefilefor automating dataset-related operations (build, update, or processing steps) via standard command-line workflows.
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Documentation & metadata files
README.md– Main project and dataset documentation (usage, structure, and context).README.CONCORDANCES.md– Details on concordances/mappings to external identifiers or systems.LICENSING.md– License information and terms of use for the dataset.PUBDATE.md– Publication date or release metadata for the dataset..gitattributesand.gitignore– Repository configuration for consistent handling of files.
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Open access orientation
- Data is explicitly made available for public access and free download.
- Designed so users can view and analyze “everything at once” to discover new connections and insights in the collection.
APIs & Integrations
- The dataset is designed to complement the museum’s web collection interface and related programmatic access.
- Usable as a standalone dataset or in combination with tools and scripts from the repository.
Use Cases
- Cultural heritage and museum informatics research.
- Data visualization and digital humanities projects.
- Education and teaching resources on design history.
- Building custom interfaces, search tools, or analysis pipelines for museum collection data.
Pricing
- Free – The dataset is made available for free public download; no pricing tiers are indicated in the repository content.
Tags
- datasets
- museums
- apis
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