Tim Sherratt

Tim Sherratt

Sharing recent updates and work-in-progress

May 2025

Farewell Trove

Over the last few months I’ve been grappling with the cancellation of my Trove API keys by the National Library of Australia. It may seem like a minor technical hiccup from the outside, but it’s had a major personal impact. For the sake of my health, I’ve decided to stop work on Trove, archive all my code repositories related to Trove, and move on. Farewell Trove.

But don’t panic! All of my Trove tools and resources available through the GLAM Workbench and elsewhere will remain online. They just won’t be updated. I’ll be adding explanatory notices to the affected resources over coming weeks. All of my stuff is openly licensed, so feel free to take what’s useful and develop it further yourself.

I’ll also be adding warnings for researchers planning to use the Trove API in their projects. Given the fact that the NLA is willing to change the API terms of use to restrict access without any consultation, provides no transparency around acceptable use of full text content, and is willing to cancel API keys without warning, I can no longer recommend Trove as a reliable source for digital research. A PhD student could embark on a project in good faith, only to have the rules change mid-project.

I think this is a critical issue for the research sector, and hard questions need to be asked of the NLA. But I can’t be the one to do this any more. I’m sick of being the person calling the NLA out on its bad behaviour. I’m sick of their gaslighting.

I wanted to avoid making any dramatic gestures, but after talking it over with my partner last night, I realised my health is really suffering and I need to make a change. I also realised that even if my API keys were magically restored, I’d always be looking over my shoulder, wondering if I’d done something to offend the NLA gatekeepers. That’s not a good way to live. I’d rather spend my time working with organisations who value what I do.

Addendum, 22 May 2025

I noticed last night that the Trove API key application process had changed. Previously, non-commercial use was approved automatically. Now you have to fill in a two page form justifying your proposed use. Your application is then assessed against a complex four level review matrix. Responses are provided within 7 to 28 days. If you want to download the full text of resources, such as digitised newspapers, you additionally need to apply for an exemption to the terms of use.

The NLA has also changed the API terms of use, removing all reference to unauthenticated access. Limited unauthenticated (or keyless) access was introduced with version 3 of the API and was useful for quick experimentation, demonstrations, and teaching. Unauthenticated access has now been disabled and all attempts to access the API without a key return an error. This change together with the new and complex application process, makes it difficult, if not impossible, to use the Trove API in teaching and training contexts.

These changes will further discourage use of the Trove API, and that’s probably the point. I wouldn’t be surprised if further limits were imposed in the future, or if the NLA decommissioned the API entirely.

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