Remix the Archives using the PROV API

Public Record Office Victoria (PROV) is the archive of the State and local government in Victoria.

We hold around 100kms of hard copy records and 6 million digital records dating from 1836 to the present day. More records in all formats are transferred to PROV every year. Many records in our collection are open and accessible to researchers either in our Reading Rooms or online.

We encourage the sharing and reuse of our collection information via our Application Programming Interface (API). An API is the way a website or application makes its data available to the rest of the world. The PROV API can be used by developers to build a new web service or app that uses PROV data; or by researchers who would prefer to download raw data rather than trawling through thousands of search results.

We would like you to use the PROV API to create a service that allows users to remix the archives for artistic endeavour.

What do we mean by remix?

Here is an excerpt from Remix Theory that explains one definition of remix:

“Generally speaking, remix culture can be defined as the global activity consisting of the creative and efficient exchange of information made possible by digital technologies that is supported by the practice of cut/copy and paste.

The concept of Remix often referenced in popular culture derives from the model of music remixes which were produced around the late 1960s and early 1970s in New York City, an activity with roots in Jamaica’s music.

Today, Remix (the activity of taking samples from pre-existing materials to combine them into new forms according to personal taste) has been extended to other areas of culture, including the visual arts; it plays a vital role in mass communication, especially on the Internet”.

For local examples see: https://www.slv.vic.gov.au/stories/creative-uses-collection/remixvic

Additional Information

Image credit: Public Record Office Victoria.