Interactive Tools

Vocabulary API

HTTP API for accessing ZineCore2 controlled vocabularies with content negotiation

The ZineCore2 vocabularies are published via HTTP API with content negotiation, supporting multiple standard formats (JSON, JSON-LD, SKOS/Turtle, CSV).

Base URL

https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/

Content Negotiation

Use HTTP Accept headers to request different formats:

Format	Accept Header	Example
JSON	application/json	curl https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects
JSON-LD	application/ld+json	curl -H "Accept: application/ld+json" https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/genres
SKOS/Turtle	text/turtle	curl -H "Accept: text/turtle" https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects
CSV	text/csv	curl -H "Accept: text/csv" https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/rights_statements

Alternatively, use the format query parameter:

GET /api/vocabularies/subjects?format=jsonld
GET /api/vocabularies/genres?format=turtle
GET /api/vocabularies/rights_statements?format=csv

API Endpoints

List All Vocabularies

GET /api/vocabularies

Returns an index of all available vocabularies with metadata.

Get Specific Vocabulary

GET /api/vocabularies/{vocab_id}

Available vocab_id values:

subjects - Zine subject terms (~150-300 topical terms)
genres - Zine genres (18+ format types)
rights_statements - Rights and licensing terms
agent_kinds - Agent types (Person, Collective, Organization)
agent_roles - Contributor roles (Creator, Editor, Illustrator, etc.)
repo_kinds - Repository types (Library, Archive, Distro, etc.)
holding_access_statuses - Access levels (Reading room only, Loanable, etc.)
holding_distro_statuses - Duplication permissions (Can duplicate, Can digitize, etc.)

Response Format

JSON (Default)

{
  "id": "https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/",
  "title": "Zine Subject Terms",
  "description": "Controlled vocabulary for zine subject headings",
  "namespace": "https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/",
  "terms": [
    {
      "code": "activism",
      "label": "Activism",
      "definition": "Social and political activism",
      "uri": "https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/activism"
    },
    ...
  ]
}

JSON-LD

Includes full semantic web context with SKOS mappings:

{
  "@context": {
    "@vocab": "http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#",
    "subjects": "https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/"
  },
  "@id": "https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/",
  "@type": "ConceptScheme",
  "prefLabel": "Zine Subject Terms",
  "hasTopConcept": [
    {
      "@id": "subjects:activism",
      "@type": "Concept",
      "prefLabel": "Activism",
      "definition": "Social and political activism"
    },
    ...
  ]
}

SKOS/Turtle

W3C SKOS format for semantic web integration:

@prefix skos: <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#> .
@prefix subjects: <https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/> .

<https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/> a skos:ConceptScheme ;
    skos:prefLabel "Zine Subject Terms" ;
    skos:hasTopConcept subjects:activism .

subjects:activism a skos:Concept ;
    skos:prefLabel "Activism" ;
    skos:definition "Social and political activism" .

CSV

Tabular format for spreadsheet imports:

code,label,definition,uri
activism,Activism,Social and political activism,https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/activism
anarchism,Anarchism,Anarchist politics and philosophy,https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/anarchism
...

Programming Examples

JavaScript / TypeScript

// Fetch subjects vocabulary as JSON
const subjects = await fetch('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects')
  .then(r => r.json());

console.log(subjects.title); // "Zine Subject Terms"
subjects.terms.forEach(term => {
  console.log(`${term.code}: ${term.label}`);
});

// Fetch as JSON-LD for semantic web
const genresLD = await fetch('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/genres', {
  headers: { 'Accept': 'application/ld+json' }
}).then(r => r.json());

// Fetch as CSV text
const csv = await fetch('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/rights_statements', {
  headers: { 'Accept': 'text/csv' }
}).then(r => r.text());

// Using query parameter
const turtle = await fetch('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects?format=turtle')
  .then(r => r.text());

Python

import requests

# Fetch subjects as JSON
response = requests.get('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects')
subjects = response.json()

print(subjects['title'])  # "Zine Subject Terms"
for term in subjects['terms']:
    print(f"{term['code']}: {term['label']}")

# Fetch as JSON-LD
headers = {'Accept': 'application/ld+json'}
genres_ld = requests.get('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/genres', headers=headers).json()

# Fetch as CSV
headers = {'Accept': 'text/csv'}
csv_data = requests.get('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/rights_statements', headers=headers).text

# Using query parameter
turtle_data = requests.get('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects?format=turtle').text

cURL

# JSON (default)
curl https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects

# JSON-LD
curl -H "Accept: application/ld+json" https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/genres

# SKOS/Turtle
curl -H "Accept: text/turtle" https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects

# CSV
curl -H "Accept: text/csv" https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/rights_statements

# Using query parameter
curl "https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects?format=turtle"

CORS Support

The API supports Cross-Origin Resource Sharing (CORS) for browser-based applications:

// Works from any domain
fetch('https://zinecore.org/api/vocabularies/subjects')
  .then(r => r.json())
  .then(data => console.log(data));

Rate Limiting

The API is currently unlimited for read-only access. For bulk downloads or high-frequency access, please consider:

Caching responses locally to reduce requests
Using static file downloads for offline use (see Downloads)
Mirroring vocabularies via the vocabulary API GitHub repository

Stable URIs

Each vocabulary term has a stable, dereferenceable URI:

https://zinecore.org/vocab/subjects/activism
https://zinecore.org/vocab/genres/perzine
https://zinecore.org/vocab/rights/cc-by-4.0

These URIs follow linked data best practices and can be used in RDF graphs, JSON-LD contexts, and semantic web applications.