National Archives of the Netherlands, finding aids and scans

Base URL

https://service.archief.nl/gaf/oai/!open_oai.OAIHandler

Endpoints 8

• GET?verb=IdentifyAbout the service: earliestDatestamp 2024-02-26, granularity YYYY-MM-DDThh:mm:ssZ, deleted records transient.
• GET?verb=ListMetadataFormatsoai_ead (finding aids) and oai_dc (single objects, mostly photographs, as RDF with EDM classes).
• GET?verb=ListSetsSets: one per access number (7,442) plus EAD_ALL; 50 per page.
• GET?verb=ListIdentifiers&metadataPrefix=oai_ead&from=…&until=…Access numbers and datestamps changed in a period; total in completeListSize.
• GET?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_ead&identifier={toegangsnummer}One complete finding aid in EAD (e.g. 2.21.205.69, 24 kB; 1.04.18.03 Batavia aldermen's court, 68 kB).
• GET?verb=ListRecords&metadataPrefix=oai_dc&set={set}Single objects (photo records) with creator, rights and image addresses; identifier as NL-HaNA_<set>_<uuid>.
• GEThttps://service.archief.nl/gaf/api/mets/v1/{uuid}METS file of one inventory number with scans: the addresses of the individual images (/api/file/v1/default/{uuid}).
• GEThttps://service.archief.nl/iip/…/{file-uuid}.jp2/info.jsonIIIF Image API 3.0 for an image (dimensions, tiles); the address is given as nao:webserviceIIIF in the oai_dc record.

Filtering tested

Only the OAI-PMH filters: metadataPrefix, set and a from/until date window. No content search; do that after harvesting.

Parameters 6

Elements in the responses (selection) 10

Limits and pitfalls

• 50 records or identifiers per page; the resumptionToken expires after one hour. tested
• No documented rate limit and no robots.txt on service.archief.nl (404). Harvest at a gentle pace. tested
• With the header Accept: text/xml the service returns HTTP 406, even though the response is XML. Send Accept: */* or omit the header. tested
• The address contains an exclamation mark (!open_oai.OAIHandler): put it in single quotes in the shell. tested
• oai_dc is not what the name suggests: 1.2 million single objects (mostly photographs) as RDF with EDM classes, with images via IIIF. Not the same records as the finding aids. tested
• Errors come as OAI error codes with HTTP 200 (idDoesNotExist, noRecordsMatch). Always check for an <error> element. tested
• Each record only has the date of its last change; earliestDatestamp is 26 February 2024, earlier history is not available. tested

Try it HTTP 200 · 486 ms · 16 Oct

https://service.archief.nl/gaf/oai/!open_oai.OAIHandler?verb=ListIdentifiers&metadataPrefix=oai_ead&from=2026-10-01T00:00:00Z&until=2026-10-02T00:00:00Z

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><OAI-PMH xmlns="http://www.openarchives.org/OAI/2.0/"><responseDate>2026-10-16T21:53:02Z</responseDate><request verb="ListIdentifiers" metadataPrefix="oai_ead" from="2026-10-01T00:00:00Z" until="2026-10-02T00:00:00Z">https://service.archief.nl/gaf/oai/!open_oai.OAIHandler</request><ListIdentifiers><header><identifier>4.TOPO</identifier><datestamp>2026-10-01T05:37:11Z</datestamp><setSpec>4.TOPO</setSpec><setSpec>EAD_ALL</setSpec></header><header><identifier>2.14.103</identifier><datestamp>2026-10-01T10:51:03Z</datestamp><setSpec>2.14.103</setSpec><setSpec>EAD_ALL</setSpec></header><header><identifier>2.16.134</identifier><datestamp>2026-10-01T10:57:51Z</datestamp><setSpec>2.16.134</setSpec><setSpec>EAD_ALL</setSpec></header><header><identifier>2.12.51</identifier><datestamp>2026-10-01T11:23:02Z</datestamp><setSpec>2.12.51</setSpec><setSpec>EAD_ALL</setSpec></header><header><identifier>2.27.124</identifier><datestamp>2026-10-01T13:55:04Z</datestamp><setSpec>2.27.124</setSpec><setSpec>EAD_ALL</setSpec></header><resumptionToken/></ListIdentifiers></OAI-PMH>

Shortened response, saved at harvest time. Click the URL for the real, current response.