Foundational community infrastructure proposal

OpenGeoMetadata API Mirror Network

A protected, health-aware network of institutional OGM API mirrors - paired with customizable ogm-discovery sites - that adds capacity, resilience, and maintenance freedom with every new member.

Discussion Draft v0.1.0 OGM-DISCUSSION-2026-01 August 19, 2026 Proposal lead: Eric Larson

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Diagram of a protected global endpoint routing users to multiple institutional OGM API mirrors, with metadata synchronized from GitHub

Two documents, two audiences

For library leadership

Executive Summary

The institutional ask, community return, reference cost, operating safeguards, and recommended three-node pilot.

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For IT staff and geography librarians

Technical Implementation Guide

GitHub synchronization, nightly indexing, webhook fan-out, layered caching, failover, security, recovery, monitoring, and institutional responsibilities.

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The implementation in three decisions

GitHub stays authoritativeEvery mirror independently harvests the public Aardvark corpus and can rebuild its derived data.
The edge protects and balancesOne stable endpoint applies caching, bot controls, readiness checks, weighted routing, and failover.
Cache outcomes, not RedisGlobal edge caching and optional content-addressed assets share work without coupling campus failure domains.