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Digital Public Library of America

dp.la

132 pointsKoftaBob21 comments

I'm impressed with how responsive the pages load on that site. I was trying to find info about the frontend framework they use and came across their github (it's React): https://github.com/dpla

Also this is interesting: https://pro.dp.la/developers

"From a public API and bulk download that grant access to all of DPLA’s records under a permissive license, to code repositories and documentation that showcase in-house development efforts by DPLA’s Technology Team, DPLA offers something for every developer"

Wow you weren’t kidding. That page loads virtually instantly.

I'd guess they're doing React, but with heavy (exclusive?) server-side rendering, given that the page looks identical and works on mobile with JavaScript disabled. Kudos!

I am perusing the "Pan-Am Shrinks the World" module, and the full screen zoom is terrific. Every .gov is looking to house their data on AWS. It makes sense to have a single digital library for physical constants, ephemeris tracking, volcano alerts, quantum encryption algorithms and the entire fediverse of government scientific data. It simply has to operate at the highest levels of public trust & transparency, as well as 99.9999% uptime ;)

I'm a developer at DPLA and so happy to see some of these comments. We are obviously a small org (and even smaller tech staff of three) and it means a lot to me.

Happy to try and answer any questions.

Thank you for this, I have huge respect for the ideas here.

I use Libby to access public libraries. Have you considered giving Libby/Overdrive access to your items?

DPLA is a strategic partner with Lyrasis on a platform called The Palace Project which is an alternative for public libraries and includes a marketplace for acquiring content to lend, circulation management as well as a patron facing app.

https://thepalaceproject.org/

So it's kind of a metadata aggregator. That's actually pretty valuable insofar as it provides direct and easy access to off-site source materials.

To me a big part of the value will definitely be finding favorite third-party source sites through their service.

I'm also really enjoying experimenting with the different high-res image viewers used by different archive and library sites. Wish that tech was more widespread or directly available, since it would help me self-host high-res art and photos for example. (And no, being restricted to default browser tools for viewing images is not even close to that experience)

> I'm also really enjoying experimenting with the different high-res image viewers used by different archive and library sites.

If you haven't already seen it, you might also be interested in https://iiif.io/

A good time to mention the existence of https://standardebooks.org/ as well

I love libraries.

.la is a ccTld for Laos country. I wonder why this website didn't use a .com (maybe nothing good short domain was available) or .us.

From a cursory look they look like a private non profit, so they may not have access to *.gov domains or subdomains.

Your cursory look is confirmed by viewing this page which holds their charter and forms 990:

https://dp.la/about

I like the "domain hack".

Their acronym is DPLA, they wanted dp.la.

Pretty simple.

Still a pretty strange choice for a site which wants "people to learn, grow, and contribute to a diverse and better-functioning society" [1], considering that Laos is a one-party communist dictatorship. Not the only weird situation surrounding that TLD though [2][3].

[1] https://dp.la/about

[2] https://www.la/about

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.la

Oof. Los Angeles, Louisiana, and Chinese / French / Italian domain name hacks.

That never stood a chance of being used for country-specific things.

I worked briefly for a company that wanted (and got, and then later abandoned) a '.sy' domain. Syria. They had to get the State Dept. involved!

Yeah... honestly I skimmed over it being Laos.

While I do like domain hacks I would never support a communist regime, which the domain rental most likely directly goes to.

I mean I agree with their choice. Its just a domain. They can use it as long as it goes. But eventually, its a ccTld of a small country, comes with its own risks. It would not be first website to change domains if anything comes up.

This is an amazing collection ( currently going through eugenics movement in US and holy bananas - it is a wild read ).

This is bookmarked for future use. I am not sure where I would be able to get such materials with such ease. I genuinely can't believe I did not stumble on that before.

This is what HN is all about.

edit: ride >> read

Well this is pretty cool. Always interested in seeing more digital accessibility projects.

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