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IIIF

IIIF Consortium
United States of America
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About

Launched: 2011
Record Updated: Oct 12, 2026
Standard, specification or protocol
IIIF is a set of open standards for delivering high-quality, attributed digital objects online at scale. It’s also an international community developing and implementing the IIIF APIs. IIIF is backed by a consortium of leading cultural institutions. IIIF Consortium is an affiliate of CLIR.

This is pricing for joining and supporting the consortium, however it is critical to note that implementing IIIF is and will always be free, based on free and open standards!: https://iiif.io/community/consortium/join/

Domain Relevance

  • Generalist (no disciplinary-focus)

Mission

To produce a set of interoperable technologies and a community framework for the delivery of digitized collections.

Key Achievements

  • Supported the official adoption of IIIF by the Internet Archive (https://blog.archive.org/2023/09/18/making-iiif-official-at-the-internet-archive/)
  • Increasing adoption at the national level (Italy, UK, France, Luxembourg) and for standards organizations worldwide, such as by CETAF (https://cetaf.org/elementor-7894/) and similar domain standards organizations
  • Founded new 3D Technical Specification Group, officially chartered to develop the means of integrating 3D models for cultural heritage, archaeology, and more

    • Technical Attributes

    Maintenance Status

    Actively Maintained

    Open Code Repository

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Technical Documentation

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window) Website (Opens in new window) Website (Opens in new window)

    Open API

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Open Product Roadmap

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Technical Attribute Statements

    Technology Readiness Level

    • Actual system proven in operational environment

    Code Licenses Used

    • GNU General Public License (GPL)
    • MIT License

    Content Licensing

    • Other
    As an open standard, IIIF does not control the content licensing of users of the standard.

    Standards

    Metadata

    • JSON

    Service Providers

    We don't formally vet or require particular levels of IIIF compliance, but we do feature community partners that we're aware of in a few different places.

    Integrations

    • Other

    We recently announced a community partnership with the Internet Archive, which has formally adopted the IIIF 3.0 specifications for image and object presentation delivery.

    There is a great deal of overlap in the work that is done by the IIIF Editors and group co-chairs, and the work done by other standards organizations like the W3C.

    Community Engagement

    Code of Conduct

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Community Engagement

    Implemented

    Community Statements

    User Contribution Pathways

    • Contribute funds
    • Contribute to code
    • Contribute to documentation
    • Contribute to education or training
    • Contribute to working groups or interest groups

    More About Community Engagement

    Community Engagement Activities:

    Calendar of 100% public Community Group calls, 100% open community communication listserv and Slack, periodic online training events with free tickets for self-identified members of underrepresented groups within the IIIF Community, dedicated Community and Communications Coordinator staff role
    IIIF is frequently invoked as a major means by which our community institutions align themselves with the FAIR Principles (https://www.go-fair.org/fair-principles/)
    Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable -- particularly the latter three.

    Policies & Governance

    Governance Summary

    IIIF is governed by an Executive Committee and an Operating Committee.

    Policies

    Bylaws

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Commitment to Equity & Inclusion

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Privacy Policy

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Governance Records

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Governance Structure & Processes

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Transparent Pricing and Cost Expectations

    Implemented
    Website (Opens in new window)

    Policy Statements

    Board Structure

    • Advisory board or steering committee

    Community Governance

    • Formal

    Additional Information

    Organizational History

    The Image API was proposed in late 2011 as a collaboration between The British Library, Stanford University, the Bodleian Libraries (Oxford University), the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Nasjonalbiblioteket (National Library of Norway), Los Alamos National Laboratory Research Library, and Cornell University. Version 1.0 was published in 2012.
    Version 1.0 of the Presentation API was published in 2013 and of the Search API in 2016. (from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Image_Interoperability_Framework)

    Organizational Structure

    Business or Ownership Model

    Fiscal sponsorship (non-profit)

    Current Affiliations

    • Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR)

    Funding

    Primary Funding Source

    • Contributions

    Revenue Sources

    • Earned/commercial revenue
    • Institutional memberships

    Funding Needs

    As the IIIF Consortium expands its operations and operations, we primarily are exploring funding opportunities around training/translation, and travel support for the volunteer specification editors and technical group co-chairs.
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