Met Museum Puts 200,000+ Artworks Online via Google Partnership

The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has partnered with Google to make over 200,000 images from its collection freely accessible online through a new API. The Met Collection API integrates the museum's digital archive into Google's Arts & Culture app, a virtual museum housing millions of artworks with technical sheets, multimedia content, and links. All images are available under a Creative Commons Zero license, allowing free download and reuse. Director Max Hollein stated that the API connects the museum's vast resources with a global audience, essential for its mission as a 21st-century encyclopedic museum. Last year alone, 21,000 images were added to the online collection, 18,000 of which are public domain. A new filter on the museum's website lets users search only for public domain works, marked with the CC0 logo. The initiative is part of the Met's Open Access program. Despite recent financial difficulties—including a deficit that grew from $3.5 million in 2014 to $10 million in 2016, staff cuts, and the resignation of director Thomas P. Campbell—the museum has shifted from a pay-as-you-wish policy to a $25 admission fee for non-New York residents under interim CEO Daniel H. Weiss. The Met attracted over 6 million visitors in 2015.