Data terms
Using Dartabase data
Dartabase aggregates metadata from open-access museum collections. The database itself is free to use for research, education, and personal projects. These terms clarify what that means in practice.
Attribution
If you cite data from a Dartabase record in a publication, cite the source institution, not Dartabase. Dartabase is a finding tool; the museum or collection is the authoritative source. The citation panel on each artwork page produces a correctly formatted reference pointing to the original institution.
If you build something using Dartabase as a data source (a research tool, a publication dataset, an application), a credit line is appreciated but not required for non-commercial academic use: “Data sourced in part from Dartabase (dartabase.vercel.app).”
Upstream licences
Dartabase holds data from sources with varying licences. Most metadata (title, date, medium, dimensions, attribution) is CC0 or otherwise openly licensed. Images are never hosted by Dartabase; they load directly from the source institution. Image rights are shown on each artwork page under “Image rights.”
Downstream users are responsible for complying with the original source licence for any data they use. In particular: QAGOMA records include Indigenous Australian art governed by community cultural protocols beyond copyright. See the ICIP section on the About page.
Acceptable use
- Allowed: research, academic publication, building tools that credit sources, non-commercial education, personal reference.
- Not allowed: scraping to build a competing commercial database, redistribution of records without source attribution, commercial use of ICIP-sensitive material, any use that violates the licence of the upstream source.
- Rate limits: the public Supabase read endpoint is shared. Automated bulk access that affects availability for other users will be blocked.
Data partnerships and API access
Institutions wishing to contribute records, researchers needing structured bulk export, and developers building on the data are welcome to reach out via GitHub ↗. A read-only JSON API is available at /api/v1/artworks, /api/v1/artworks/[id], /api/v1/artists/[id], and /api/v1/institutions/[id]. CORS is open; all responses carry an X-Source attribution header. Browse and search pages also support CSV and JSON export of up to 500 records.