The Natural History Museum just came out with a new data portal, including API access via CKAN! Turns out we already have a CKAN R client in development. Examples? I thought you'd never ask:
Install latest dev version of taxize
install.packages("devtools")
devtools::install_github("ropensci/ckanr")library("ckanr")Set the base URL
nhmbase <- "http://data.nhm.ac.uk"List datasets
package_list(as = "table", url = nhmbase)
#> [1] "bioacoustica"
#> [2] "collection-artefacts"
#> [3] "collection-indexlots"
#> [4] "collection-specimens"
#> [5] "crowdsourcing-the-collection"
#> [6] "natural-history-museum-library-and-archives"
#> [7] "natural-history-museum-picture-library"
#> [8] "notes-from-nature"List tags
tag_list(as="table", url = nhmbase)
#> vocabulary_id display_name id
#> 1 NA arthropods f9245868-f4cb-4c85-a59d-11692db19e86
#> 2 NA bioacoustics 11faa593-7ccb-4a6f-8a97-c88ca8939624
#> 3 NA biodiversity bd09adfa-22d6-4318-9883-dde4595bcd10
#> 4 NA Science uncovered 39440d40-f005-47c0-a8ae-2ac52a720236
#> 5 NA sound 4ae4457a-0f0e-4e0d-a168-cc27969ecd20
#> 6 NA su2014 0283e601-ae8a-4772-8031-4c76688bd4d3
#> 7 NA taxonomy c091064c-81c2-4cc8-a54e-2ff8ca8e28b0
#> name
#> 1 arthropods
#> 2 bioacoustics
#> 3 biodiversity
#> 4 Science uncovered
#> 5 sound
#> 6 su2014
#> 7 taxonomytag_show('arthropods', as='table', url = nhmbase)
#> $vocabulary_id
#> NULL
#>
#> $packages
#> list()
#>
#> $display_name
#> [1] "arthropods"
#>
#> $id
#> [1] "f9245868-f4cb-4c85-a59d-11692db19e86"
#>
#> $name
#> [1] "arthropods"Packages
package_search(q = '*:*', rows = 2, as='table', url = nhmbase)
#> $count
#> [1] 8
#>
#> $sort
#> [1] "promoted asc, metadata_modified desc"
#>
#> $facets
#> named list()
#>
#> $results
#> license_title maintainer relationships_as_object private
#> 1 Creative Commons CCZero NA NULL FALSE
#> 2 Creative Commons CCZero NA NULL FALSE
#> maintainer_email num_tags update_frequency
#> 1 NA 1 weekly
#> 2 NA 1 weekly
#> id metadata_created
#> 1 56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea 2014-12-08T16:39:22.346941
#> 2 9dfb777e-2296-4800-a053-b1c80fd30bac 2014-12-15T13:20:25.858259
#> metadata_modified author author_email
#> 1 2014-12-17T10:25:53.899364 Natural History Museum
#> 2 2014-12-17T10:27:59.426858 Natural History Museum <NA>
#> temporal_extent state version
#> 1 active NA
#> 2 active NA
#> spatial
#> 1 {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-180,82],[180,82],[180,-82],[-180,-82],[-180,82]]]}
#> 2
#> license_id type
#> 1 cc-zero dataset
#> 2 cc-zero dataset
#> resources
#> 1 fefa4aca-61e0-4978-9507-040db59c1641, datastore, NA, 2014-12-15T15:01:51.030533, NA, associatedMedia, 05ff2255-c38a-40c9-b657-4ccb55ab2feb, NA, cc-by, active, , Specimen records, dwc, 0, 0, NA, None, NA, NA, Specimens, 2014-12-08T16:43:25.016679, /datastore/dump/05ff2255-c38a-40c9-b657-4ccb55ab2feb, NA, 2014-12-15T15:01:50.892842, 0, 057be190-dc60-48ae-810a-e853af85b850, NA
#> 2 c0775a70-a11b-4fb0-8c70-bf7830cd5bc3, datastore, NA, 2014-12-16T13:40:32.438294, NA, None, bb909597-dedf-427d-8c04-4c02b3a24db3, NA, , active, , Species level record denoting the presence of a taxon in the Museum collection., CSV, 0, 0, NA, Catalogue number, NA, NA, Index Lots, 2014-12-15T13:20:27.010266, /datastore/dump/bb909597-dedf-427d-8c04-4c02b3a24db3, NA, 2014-12-15T18:36:56.213560, 0, 9d0ee18c-1153-430e-8d55-d2273d7c5fa0, NA
#> num_resources tracking_summary.total tracking_summary.recent
#> 1 1 8 8
#> 2 1 10 10
#> dataset_type groups creator_user_id
#> 1 Collections NULL adf402e6-f82f-4545-8bbe-68634a349107
#> 2 Collections NULL adf402e6-f82f-4545-8bbe-68634a349107
#> relationships_as_subject revision_timestamp
#> 1 NULL 2014-12-16T10:56:07.533454
#> 2 NULL 2014-12-15T13:20:25.858259
#> organization.description organization.created
#> 1 2014-12-08T16:35:24.247079
#> 2 2014-12-08T16:35:24.247079
#> organization.title organization.name organization.revision_timestamp
#> 1 Natural History Museum nhm 2014-12-08T16:35:24.188888
#> 2 Natural History Museum nhm 2014-12-08T16:35:24.188888
#> organization.is_organization organization.state organization.image_url
#> 1 TRUE active
#> 2 TRUE active
#> organization.revision_id organization.type
#> 1 a11d1487-e85b-453a-9ea7-d5ed17f875ed organization
#> 2 a11d1487-e85b-453a-9ea7-d5ed17f875ed organization
#> organization.id organization.approval_status
#> 1 7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0 approved
#> 2 7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0 approved
#> name isopen url
#> 1 collection-specimens TRUE NA
#> 2 collection-indexlots TRUE NA
#> notes
#> 1 Specimen records from the Natural History Museum's collection
#> 2 Index Lot records from the Natural History Museum's collection
#> owner_org
#> 1 7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0
#> 2 7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0
#> license_url promoted
#> 1 http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-zero True
#> 2 http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-zero <NA>
#> title revision_id
#> 1 Collection specimens 406f4a2c-1bd7-4474-bb9c-68b71d60925e
#> 2 Index Lot collection 85a92d0f-4081-4c58-a4be-2f27a7aced41
#>
#> $search_facets
#> named list()package_show(id = "56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea", as="table", url = nhmbase)
#> $domain
#> [1] "data.nhm.ac.uk"
#>
#> $owner_org
#> [1] "7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0"
#>
#> $maintainer
#> NULL
#>
#> $relationships_as_object
#> list()
#>
#> $private
#> [1] FALSE
#>
#> $maintainer_email
#> NULL
#>
#> $revision_timestamp
#> [1] "2014-12-16T10:56:07.533454"
#>
#> $id
#> [1] "56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea"
#>
#> $metadata_created
#> [1] "2014-12-08T16:39:22.346941"
#>
#> $metadata_modified
#> [1] "2014-12-17T10:25:53.899364"
#>
#> $author
#> [1] "Natural History Museum"
#>
#> $author_email
#> [1] ""
#>
#> $state
#> [1] "active"
#>
#> $version
#> NULL
#>
#> $creator_user_id
#> [1] "adf402e6-f82f-4545-8bbe-68634a349107"
#>
#> $type
#> [1] "dataset"
#>
#> $resources
#> resource_group_id _title_field cache_last_updated
#> 1 fefa4aca-61e0-4978-9507-040db59c1641 None NA
#> revision_timestamp webstore_last_updated webstore_url
#> 1 2014-12-15T15:01:51.030533 NA NA
#> datastore_active id size
#> 1 TRUE 05ff2255-c38a-40c9-b657-4ccb55ab2feb NA
#> _image_licence state hash description format
#> 1 cc-by active Specimen records dwc
#> tracking_summary.total tracking_summary.recent mimetype_inner url_type
#> 1 0 0 NA datastore
#> mimetype cache_url name created
#> 1 NA NA Specimens 2014-12-08T16:43:25.016679
#> url _image_field
#> 1 /datastore/dump/05ff2255-c38a-40c9-b657-4ccb55ab2feb associatedMedia
#> last_modified position revision_id
#> 1 2014-12-15T15:01:50.892842 0 057be190-dc60-48ae-810a-e853af85b850
#> resource_type
#> 1 NA
#>
#> $num_resources
#> [1] 1
#>
#> $tags
#> vocabulary_id display_name name
#> 1 7e4e2739-1697-4c99-82ee-e3c9fdebc468 Collections Collections
#> revision_timestamp state id
#> 1 2014-12-08T16:39:22.346941 active d0ce043d-f8b5-4c57-9fad-58640b764f63
#>
#> $title
#> [1] "Collection specimens"
#>
#> $tracking_summary
#> $tracking_summary$total
#> [1] 10
#>
#> $tracking_summary$recent
#> [1] 10
#>
#>
#> $groups
#> list()
#>
#> $license_id
#> [1] "cc-zero"
#>
#> $relationships_as_subject
#> list()
#>
#> $validated_data_dict
#> [1] "{\"owner_org\": \"7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0\", \"maintainer\": null, \"relationships_as_object\": [], \"private\": false, \"maintainer_email\": null, \"num_tags\": 1, \"update_frequency\": \"weekly\", \"id\": \"56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea\", \"metadata_created\": \"2014-12-08T16:39:22.346941\", \"metadata_modified\": \"2014-12-17T10:25:53.899364\", \"author\": \"Natural History Museum\", \"author_email\": \"\", \"temporal_extent\": \"\", \"state\": \"active\", \"version\": null, \"spatial\": \"{\\\"type\\\":\\\"Polygon\\\",\\\"coordinates\\\":[[[-180,82],[180,82],[180,-82],[-180,-82],[-180,82]]]}\", \"license_id\": \"cc-zero\", \"type\": \"dataset\", \"resources\": [{\"resource_group_id\": \"fefa4aca-61e0-4978-9507-040db59c1641\", \"url_type\": \"datastore\", \"cache_last_updated\": null, \"revision_timestamp\": \"2014-12-15T15:01:51.030533\", \"webstore_last_updated\": null, \"webstore_url\": null, \"id\": \"05ff2255-c38a-40c9-b657-4ccb55ab2feb\", \"size\": null, \"_image_licence\": \"cc-by\", \"state\": \"active\", \"hash\": \"\", \"description\": \"Specimen records\", \"format\": \"dwc\", \"tracking_summary\": {\"total\": 0, \"recent\": 0}, \"mimetype_inner\": null, \"_title_field\": \"None\", \"mimetype\": null, \"cache_url\": null, \"name\": \"Specimens\", \"created\": \"2014-12-08T16:43:25.016679\", \"url\": \"/datastore/dump/05ff2255-c38a-40c9-b657-4ccb55ab2feb\", \"_image_field\": \"associatedMedia\", \"last_modified\": \"2014-12-15T15:01:50.892842\", \"position\": 0, \"revision_id\": \"057be190-dc60-48ae-810a-e853af85b850\", \"resource_type\": null}], \"num_resources\": 1, \"title\": \"Collection specimens\", \"tracking_summary\": {\"total\": 8, \"recent\": 8}, \"dataset_type\": [\"Collections\"], \"groups\": [], \"creator_user_id\": \"adf402e6-f82f-4545-8bbe-68634a349107\", \"relationships_as_subject\": [], \"revision_timestamp\": \"2014-12-16T10:56:07.533454\", \"name\": \"collection-specimens\", \"isopen\": true, \"url\": null, \"notes\": \"Specimen records from the Natural History Museum's collection\", \"license_title\": \"Creative Commons CCZero\", \"license_url\": \"http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-zero\", \"promoted\": \"True\", \"organization\": {\"description\": \"\", \"title\": \"Natural History Museum\", \"created\": \"2014-12-08T16:35:24.247079\", \"approval_status\": \"approved\", \"revision_timestamp\": \"2014-12-08T16:35:24.188888\", \"is_organization\": true, \"state\": \"active\", \"image_url\": \"\", \"revision_id\": \"a11d1487-e85b-453a-9ea7-d5ed17f875ed\", \"type\": \"organization\", \"id\": \"7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0\", \"name\": \"nhm\"}, \"revision_id\": \"406f4a2c-1bd7-4474-bb9c-68b71d60925e\"}"
#>
#> $num_tags
#> [1] 1
#>
#> $doi
#> [1] "10.5519/0002965"
#>
#> $name
#> [1] "collection-specimens"
#>
#> $isopen
#> [1] TRUE
#>
#> $url
#> NULL
#>
#> $notes
#> [1] "Specimen records from the Natural History Museum's collection"
#>
#> $license_title
#> [1] "Creative Commons CCZero"
#>
#> $extras
#> package_id
#> 1 56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea
#> 2 56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea
#> 3 56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea
#> 4 56e711e6-c847-4f99-915a-6894bb5c5dea
#> value
#> 1 True
#> 2 {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-180,82],[180,82],[180,-82],[-180,-82],[-180,82]]]}
#> 3
#> 4 weekly
#> revision_timestamp state key
#> 1 2014-12-17T10:25:53.896847 active promoted
#> 2 2014-12-15T13:00:35.296296 active spatial
#> 3 2014-12-08T16:39:22.346941 active temporal_extent
#> 4 2014-12-08T16:39:22.346941 active update_frequency
#> revision_id
#> 1 3c599446-214f-462f-be0e-0f7abc2f2d8b
#> 2 04dc3a9b-d2e8-4d29-95ca-3877b59f8ecb
#> 3 74152f29-bd09-4633-8d23-e773e727dfdf
#> 4 74152f29-bd09-4633-8d23-e773e727dfdf
#> id
#> 1 f9441b1b-2bf0-4e85-943b-718c8ced51b9
#> 2 7c3fb58e-bb2d-4335-bc7c-ec9f8627a188
#> 3 fc8ac857-8784-4daa-983c-23152f822615
#> 4 be39fa30-3dd4-4558-bbc7-edea6b3cd41c
#>
#> $license_url
#> [1] "http://www.opendefinition.org/licenses/cc-zero"
#>
#> $organization
#> $organization$description
#> [1] ""
#>
#> $organization$created
#> [1] "2014-12-08T16:35:24.247079"
#>
#> $organization$title
#> [1] "Natural History Museum"
#>
#> $organization$name
#> [1] "nhm"
#>
#> $organization$revision_timestamp
#> [1] "2014-12-08T16:35:24.188888"
#>
#> $organization$is_organization
#> [1] TRUE
#>
#> $organization$state
#> [1] "active"
#>
#> $organization$image_url
#> [1] ""
#>
#> $organization$revision_id
#> [1] "a11d1487-e85b-453a-9ea7-d5ed17f875ed"
#>
#> $organization$type
#> [1] "organization"
#>
#> $organization$id
#> [1] "7854c918-d7eb-4341-96e9-3adfb8d636a0"
#>
#> $organization$approval_status
#> [1] "approved"
#>
#>
#> $revision_id
#> [1] "406f4a2c-1bd7-4474-bb9c-68b71d60925e"I'm working on the ckanr package right now, adding more functionality...