What is IIIF?

A global standard for viewing and sharing quality images of cultural heritage

One of the biggest issues faced by those who use digital representations of books, archives, or art in research or teaching, is that almost every library or museum presents their digitised material inconsistently. Different institutions use different digital viewers, varying in functionality and ease of use, and implement different rules about download and re-use. It's a confusing landscape to navigate.

The International Image Interoperability Framework, pronounced 'triple-eye-eff', aims to bring order to digital chaos. Essentially, it's a list of rules that institutions agree to adhere to. These rules determine a set way to present images and their descriptive data, ensuring that digital images can be viewed and shared online in a consistent and interoperable way, regardless of origin. Institutions that follow these rules are helping to break down digital silos, and unlock their collections for global re-use. To date, IIIF has been formally adopted by over 100 major cultural heritage organisations worldwide.

IIIF offers a number of benefits. Images from libraries, archives, galleries, and museums that have adopted the framework can be reunited...