Book & Large Image Viewer

IIIF (International Image Interoperability Framework) is a set of specifications that provides interoperability of image-based collections across platforms. What this means for a repository platform like Islandora at a general level is that image-based objects such as (still) images and paged content can be managed by Islandora but viewed in external applications, and that Islandora can bring in image-based content from elsewhere to supplement locally managed content. If this intrigues you, see the section “Looking under the hood (and beyond)” below.

At a practical level, because Islandora supports several of the IIIF specifications, we can:

• Zoom, pan, and rotate images within OpenSeadragon
• Islandora uses an IIIF-compliant image server (by default, Cantaloupe) that utilizes the IIIF Image API. This capability is similar to what Islandora 7.x users experience when they view a Large Image.
• Display thumbnails for all pages of a book or newspaper issue within image viewers
• IIIF-compliant image viewers such as OpenSeadragon or Mirador can display a “collection” of images such as all the pages of a book or newspaper issue using the IIIF Presentation API. For example, here is a screenshot of OpenSeadragon rendering all the pages of a book:

  

Using IIIF in Islandora 8

Implementation of the IIIF Presentation API is new in Islandora 8, and using it is as simple as configuring a Context (in fact, you don’t even need to configure it; the Context, Openseadragon Block, already exists by default). To use this Context, all that is required is for your book or newspaper (or other paged content) to be given a model of “Paged Content” or “Publication Issue”. Then, in the Openseadragon Block Context, make sure the term used in the “Node has term” condition (you can register more than one term there). Now, when you view a paged content Islandora object, you will see thumbnails of all of its child pages (assuming you have added some child pages to the object) in the OpenSeadragon viewer as illustrated above.

To view an object’s manifest navigate to the node’s URL and add /manifest

Example: http://myrepo.edu/node/23/manifest

Bonus

IIIF-compliant viewers don’t need to be embedded in Islandora websites. If a viewer on another website knows the URL of a IIIF manifest like the ones that Islandora can produce, that viewer can display the content described in the manifest. Here’s an example of how a viewer can display from multiple external domains with just a manifest.

For more information see Islandora’s documentation on Using iiif in Islandora 8. Almost all of the test from this page was taken directly from this URL.