---
aid: brown
name: Brown University
description: >-
  Brown University is a private Ivy League research university in Providence,
  Rhode Island, ranked #57 in the QS World University Rankings 2025. Its public
  developer and API footprint is centered on the Brown University Library, which
  operates the Brown Digital Repository (BDR) with a documented public REST/search
  API and a IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) image and
  presentation service. Brown also runs an InCommon-federated Shibboleth/SAML
  single sign-on identity service and maintains an active "Brown University Library"
  GitHub organization with hundreds of open-source repositories. Most institutional
  systems (SIS, course catalog, internal services) are gated behind Brown
  authentication and are not publicly documented APIs.
type: Index
position: Consumer
access: 3rd-Party
image: https://kinlane-productions.s3.amazonaws.com/apis-json/apis-json-logo.jpg
url: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/api-evangelist/brown/refs/heads/main/apis.yml
tags:
  - Education
  - Higher Education
  - University
  - Research
  - Library
  - Digital Repository
  - IIIF
  - United States
created: '2026-06-03'
modified: '2026-06-03'
specificationVersion: '0.19'
apis:
  - aid: brown:bdr-api
    name: Brown Digital Repository (BDR) API
    description: >-
      Public REST/search API for the Brown Digital Repository, the library's
      platform for gathering, indexing, storing, preserving, and making available
      digital assets from scholarly, instructional, research, and administrative
      activity at Brown. The search endpoint returns JSON and is publicly reachable.
    humanURL: https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/api-docs/
    baseURL: https://repository.library.brown.edu/api/search/
    tags: [ Digital Repository, Library, Search, Research Data, JSON ]
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/api-docs/
      - type: GitHub
        url: https://github.com/Brown-University-Library
  - aid: brown:iiif
    name: Brown Digital Repository IIIF Service
    description: >-
      IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) image and presentation
      service exposing IIIF manifests for objects in the Brown Digital Repository.
      Brown is listed as a IIIF repository case study by the IIIF community.
    humanURL: https://iiif.io/guides/guides/repository.library.brown.edu/
    baseURL: https://repository.library.brown.edu/iiif/
    tags: [ IIIF, Images, Library, Digital Repository ]
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://iiif.io/guides/guides/repository.library.brown.edu/
  - aid: brown:sso
    name: Brown Shibboleth Single Sign-On (SAML)
    description: >-
      Brown's InCommon-federated Shibboleth identity provider implementing the
      OASIS SAML 2.0 standard for web single sign-on across Brown web services.
      Used for authentication/attribute release rather than as an open public API.
    humanURL: https://ithelp.brown.edu/kb/shibboleth-single-sign-on
    baseURL: https://sso.brown.edu/idp/shibboleth
    tags: [ Authentication, SSO, SAML, Shibboleth, Identity ]
    properties:
      - type: Documentation
        url: https://ithelp.brown.edu/kb/shibboleth-single-sign-on
      - type: Authentication
        url: https://sso.brown.edu/idp/shibboleth
common:
  - type: Website
    url: https://www.brown.edu
  - type: GitHub
    url: https://github.com/Brown-University-Library
  - type: LinkedIn
    url: https://www.linkedin.com/school/brown-university/
  - type: DeveloperPortal
    url: https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/api-docs/
  - type: Authentication
    url: https://sso.brown.edu/idp/shibboleth
  - type: Plans
    url: plans/brown-plans-pricing.yml
  - type: RateLimits
    url: rate-limits/brown-rate-limits.yml
  - type: FinOps
    url: finops/brown-finops.yml
  - type: Review
    url: review.yml
maintainers:
  - FN: Kin Lane
    email: kin@apievangelist.com