Dataset
Public Libraries
Boston Public Library locations. Shared publicly Last updated 8/7/2024.
Dataset
- Publisher
- Boston Maps
- Spatial coverage
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Fields
- 9
- Keywords
- Boston, bpl, branch, copley, library, public
- Publisher's page
- https://data.boston.gov/dataset/public-libraries
Artifacts
“Preserved” means the archive holds the bytes and their digest. “Referenced” means it holds the record of them and nothing more. The archive does not claim a holding it cannot prove.
| Format | Preservation | Size | Digest | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArcGIS GeoServices REST API | referenced | — | — | source |
| CSV | preserved | 3983 | 4024c4603e7754eca27e8a78a1f7bf1832be367586a16236542560a28a7a6484 | source |
| GeoJSON | preserved | 10096 | 97b19050f3c75fbe4b5cf3bf47c2f977936ec789ff382cf70ab1c9296a865b08 | source |
| HTML | referenced | — | — | source |
| KML | preserved | 5838 | a0898d21ad9e9df2bb8b2c288ed8daaa2c0ee39c3c2bfb28285a16fab7eb0081 | source |
| SHP | referenced | — | — | source |
Column dictionary
The publisher's own dictionary, preserved verbatim. The archive does not reword a schema into its own vocabulary — how the publisher named a column is evidence about the publisher.
| Column | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
OBJECTID_1 | text | |
LIBRARIES_ | text | |
DISTRICT | text | |
ST_ADDRESS | text | |
BRANCH | text | |
ZIPCODE | text | |
shape_wkt | text | |
POINT_X | text | |
POINT_Y | text |
The complete dictionary, exactly as the publisher words it, is served as its own holding at /asset/d36c3bd4d8b8490fee8f282a9bb8c5a4/public-libraries-columns.json — 900 bytes, SHA-256 d36c3bd4d8b8490f…, under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0.
Questions this record answers
Each answer is composed only from fields this record carries, and names the attestation for what it says. A question the record cannot answer from its own attested content is not asked here. Where a boundary is described as official it was promulgated by an authority with the power to draw it and is not amended by anything on the vernacular layer; where it is described as vernacular it is held by attestation alone and amends no official boundary.
Who publishes Public Libraries, and under what license?
Boston Maps publishes it. The archive accessioned it under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0 (public domain), and holds the publisher's own column dictionary verbatim rather than reworded into the archive's vocabulary — how a publisher names a column is evidence about the publisher.
Attested by: City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston), retrieved 2 September 2026, under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0.
What does Public Libraries cover?
In space, Boston, Massachusetts.
Attested by: City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston), retrieved 2 September 2026, under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0.
How large is Public Libraries?
9 columns, as the publisher's own catalog reports them.
Attested by: City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston), retrieved 2 September 2026, under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0.
Can the archive hand back the bytes of Public Libraries?
Yes, for 3 of 6 distributions. Each preserved artifact is served at its own address with the digest recorded at retrieval emitted in an x-archive-sha256 header, and is handed over as an attachment: preserved material is evidence, not content, and is never rendered on this origin.
Attested by: City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston), retrieved 2 September 2026, under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0.
What does the archive hold for Public Libraries, and under what license?
The Boston Archive holds this record of Public Libraries from City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston), retrieved 2 September 2026, under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0 (public domain). 3 recorded transforms stand between the retrieved bytes and this record. Attribution is due to City of Boston.
Attested by: City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston), retrieved 2 September 2026, under Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0.
Identity
- Identifier
- urn:lemay:boston:dataset:public-libraries
- Canonical URL
- https://boston.fyi/dataset/public-libraries
- As JSON
- https://boston.fyi/dataset/public-libraries.json
- Version
- 2 · last changed 13 September 2026
Provenance
- Source
- City of Boston Open Data Portal (Analyze Boston) — source of record
- License
- Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and Licence (PDDL) 1.0 (public_domain)
- Retrieved
- 2 September 2026
- Source identifier
- public-libraries
- Attribution
- City of Boston
- Rights as stated
- Open Data Commons Public Domain Dedication and License (PDDL)
Transform ladder
| # | Operation | Description | Tool |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | fetch | retrieved the dataset's metadata record from the CKAN package_show endpoint | archive-ingest 0.1.0 |
| 2 | normalize | mapped the portal's catalog fields onto the archive's Dataset record; the publisher's own wording and column dictionary are preserved verbatim | archive-ingest 0.1.0 |
| 3 | externalize-column-dictionary | The publisher's 9-column dictionary left the inline page graph and became a preserved holding at /asset/d36c3bd4d8b8490fee8f282a9bb8c5a4/public-libraries-columns.json, served verbatim with its own digest. The record's stored field schema is unchanged; the graph now addresses it instead of carrying it. | archive-ingest 0.1.0 |