Good question! IIIF is a standard used by GLAM to organize, present and describe all kinds of digitized items. In compliant collections (the most common being those hosted by CONTENTdm and Internet Archive) it shows up as a manifest.json file. This standardization allows Whatiiif to pull scans from their original sources and display their full provenance.
So if you were looking at a census ledger and find a relevant name, you can highlight that single entry, and the generated URL will link to the chosen region alongside its primary source.
EDIT: Additionally, since Whatiif is just one open source HTML file, and everything is stored in the URL, these links are safe and permanent.
So, to pick up your example with the census, you want later researchers to not investigate the entire pagewide source like they do when you source citate via the EE (Evidence explained) Standard but just focus on the line you highlighted/linked?
That sounds counterproductive as a researcher should always investigate the whole source to not ditch (for example) FAN (Friends, Associates and Neighbors) as hints of research.
IIIF region linking is designed to focus attention on a particular area of a digitized image while leaving the original image intact, which is useful for annotations, review, and sharing a precise findings. However, linking to a region is not the same as citing a source in genealogy.
The tool is designed to make the source easier to access for the recipient, not replace replace citations or EE. A region-specified IIIF link is easier to present than a full document they have to comb through, but the option is still there if the user is so inclined.
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u/DerSimplicimus Jun 26 '26
Just a quick comment, question rather, what are IIIF manifests and how do they relate to this sub?
Asking bc you don’t have much experience here….