diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/ApiNetworkError.ts b/jslib/core/errors/ApiNetworkError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..9c591c4bc30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/ApiNetworkError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import {HttpError} from './HttpError';
+
+/**
+ * Error thrown for network-level issues (e.g., no internet connection, DNS failure).
+ */
+export class ApiNetworkError extends HttpError {
+  /**
+   * @param request The Request object that generated the error.
+   * @param message The error message.
+   */
+  constructor(request: Request, message?: string) {
+    super(
+      request,
+      undefined,
+      message || 'Network error occurred during API call.'
+    );
+    this.name = 'APINetworkError';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/ApiResponseError.ts b/jslib/core/errors/ApiResponseError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..2e23147bc8e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/ApiResponseError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+import {HttpError} from './HttpError';
+
+/**
+ * Error thrown for non-2xx HTTP responses from the API.
+ * It includes the raw Response object for additional context.
+ */
+export class ApiResponseError extends HttpError {
+  /**
+   *
+   * @param request  The Request object that generated the error.
+   * @param response The raw HTTP Response object.
+   * @param message  The error message.
+   */
+  constructor(request: Request, response: Response, message?: string) {
+    super(
+      request,
+      response,
+      message ||
+      `Request to ${request.url} failed with status code ${response.status}.`,
+    );
+    this.name = 'ApiResponseError';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/BaseError.ts b/jslib/core/errors/BaseError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..1efc0c27779
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/BaseError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+/**
+ * Base class for all custom API-related errors.
+ */
+export class BaseError extends Error {
+  /**
+   *
+   * @param message The error message.
+   */
+  constructor(message?: string) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'BaseError';
+    Object.setPrototypeOf(this, new.target.prototype);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/HttpError.ts b/jslib/core/errors/HttpError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e12bd31e9e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/HttpError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+import {BaseError} from './BaseError';
+
+/**
+ * Base class for HTTP-related errors.
+ */
+export class HttpError extends BaseError {
+  /**
+   * @param request The Request object that generated the error.
+   * @param response The raw HTTP Response object (guaranteed to be 2xx, e.g., 204).
+   * @param message The error message.
+   */
+  constructor(
+    public readonly request: Request,
+    public readonly response?: Response,
+    message?: string
+  ) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'HttpError';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/JsonParseError.ts b/jslib/core/errors/JsonParseError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ba47db93f22
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/JsonParseError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+import {HttpError} from './HttpError';
+
+/**
+ * Error thrown when a JSON response from the server cannot be parsed.
+ */
+export class JsonParseError extends HttpError {
+  /**
+   * @param request The Request object that generated the error.
+   * @param message The error message.
+   */
+  constructor(request: Request, message?: string) {
+    super(
+      request,
+      undefined,
+      message || 'The server returned an invalid JSON response.'
+    );
+    this.name = 'JsonParseError';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/NoContentError.ts b/jslib/core/errors/NoContentError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..de5601538b5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/NoContentError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+import {HttpError} from './HttpError';
+
+/**
+ * Error thrown when a request succeeds (i.e., status 2xx)
+ * but the response body contains no content or is not the expected JSON format.
+ * This typically corresponds to a 204 No Content status when content was expected.
+ */
+export class NoContentError extends HttpError {
+  /**
+   * @param request The Request object that was sent.
+   * @param response The Response object from the fetch call.
+   * @param message The error message.
+   */
+  constructor(request: Request, response: Response, message?: string) {
+    super(
+      request,
+      response,
+      message || 'Operation succeeded but server returned no content.'
+    );
+    this.name = 'NoContentError';
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/ValidationError.ts b/jslib/core/errors/ValidationError.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..59c6668ea7b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/ValidationError.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+import {BaseError} from './BaseError';
+
+/**
+ * Error thrown when data validation fails.
+ */
+export class ValidationError extends BaseError {
+  /**
+   *
+   * @param message The error message.
+   */
+  constructor(message?: string) {
+    super(message);
+    this.name = 'ValidationError';
+    Object.setPrototypeOf(this, new.target.prototype);
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/errors/index.ts b/jslib/core/errors/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..cedff95f430
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/errors/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+export {BaseError as Base} from './BaseError';
+export {HttpError as Http} from './HttpError';
+export {ValidationError as Validation} from './ValidationError';
+export {ApiNetworkError as ApiNetwork} from './ApiNetworkError';
+export {ApiResponseError as ApiResponse} from './ApiResponseError';
+export {JsonParseError as JsonParse} from './JsonParseError';
+export {NoContentError as NoContent} from './NoContentError';
diff --git a/jslib/core/http/Client.ts b/jslib/core/http/Client.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0811eb72b51
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/http/Client.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,183 @@
+declare const loris: any;
+import {Query, QueryParam} from './Query';
+import {Errors} from '../';
+
+export interface ErrorContext {
+  key: string | number; // The key that triggered the custom message (e.g., 'ApiNetworkError' or 404)
+  request: Request,
+  response?: Response,
+}
+
+/**
+ * A basic client for making HTTP requests to a REST API endpoint.
+ */
+export class Client<T> {
+  protected baseURL: URL;
+  protected subEndpoint?: string;
+  /**
+   * Function to retrieve a custom error message for a given error context.
+   */
+  public getErrorMessage: (
+    key: string | number,
+    request: Request,
+    response?: Response
+  ) => string | undefined = () => undefined;
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a new API client instance.
+   *
+   * @param baseURL The base URL for the API requests.
+   */
+  constructor(baseURL: string) {
+    this.baseURL = new URL(baseURL, loris.BaseURL);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Sets an optional sub-endpoint path.
+   *
+   * @param subEndpoint An optional endpoint segment to append to the baseURL.
+   */
+  setSubEndpoint(subEndpoint: string): this {
+    this.subEndpoint = subEndpoint;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+
+  /**
+   * Fetches a collection of resources.
+   *
+   * @param query A Query object to build the URL query string.
+   */
+  async get<U = T>(query?: Query): Promise<U[]> {
+    // 1. Determine the path to resolve
+    const relativePath = this.subEndpoint ? this.subEndpoint : '';
+
+    // 2. Create the full URL object by resolving the path against this.baseURL.
+    const url = new URL(relativePath, this.baseURL);
+
+    // 3. Add Query Parameters using the URL object's searchParams
+    if (query) {
+      const params = new URLSearchParams(query.build());
+      params.forEach((value, key) => {
+        url.searchParams.append(key, value);
+      });
+    }
+
+    // 4. Use the final URL object for the fetch request.
+    return this.fetchJSON<U[]>(url, {
+      method: 'GET',
+      headers: {'Accept': 'application/json'},
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Fetches a list of unique labels for the resource type based on query parameters.
+   *
+   * @param {...QueryParam} params One or more QueryParam objects to filter the labels.
+   */
+  async getLabels(...params: QueryParam[]): Promise<string[]> {
+    const query = new Query();
+    params.forEach((param) => query.addParam(param));
+    return this.get<string>(query.addField('label'));
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Fetches a single resource by its ID.
+   *
+   * @param id The unique identifier of the resource to fetch.
+   */
+  async getById(id: string): Promise<T> {
+    // 1. Resolve the ID as a path segment against the this.baseURL object.
+    const url = new URL(id, this.baseURL);
+
+    // 2. Pass the final URL string to fetchJSON
+    return this.fetchJSON<T>(url, {
+      method: 'GET',
+      headers: {'Accept': 'application/json'},
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Creates a new resource on the server.
+   *
+   * @param data   The resource data to be created.
+   * @param mapper An optional function to map the input data before sending.
+   */
+  async create<U = T>(data: T, mapper?: (data: T) => U): Promise<T> {
+    const payload = mapper ? mapper(data) : data;
+    return this.fetchJSON<T>(this.baseURL, {
+      method: 'POST',
+      headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
+      body: JSON.stringify(payload),
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Updates an existing resource on the server.
+   *
+   * @param id The unique identifier of the resource to update.
+   * @param data The new resource data.
+   */
+  async update(id: string, data: T): Promise<T> {
+    // 1. Resolve the ID as a path segment against the this.baseURL object.
+    const url = new URL(id, this.baseURL);
+
+    // 2. Pass the final URL string to fetchJSON
+    return this.fetchJSON<T>(url, {
+      method: 'PUT',
+      headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
+      body: JSON.stringify(data),
+    });
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Handles the actual fetching and JSON parsing, including error handling.
+   *
+   * @param url     The URL to which the request will be made.
+   * @param options The Fetch API request initialization options.
+   */
+  protected async fetchJSON<U>(
+    url: URL,
+    options: RequestInit
+  ): Promise<U> {
+    const request = new Request(url, options);
+    try {
+      const response = await fetch(request);
+
+      // 1. Handle HTTP status errors (e.g., 404, 500)
+      if (!response.ok) {
+        throw new Errors.ApiResponse(
+          request,
+          response,
+          this.getErrorMessage('ApiResponseError', request, response)
+        );
+      }
+
+      // Handle responses with no content or non-JSON content
+      const contentType = response.headers.get('content-type');
+      if (!contentType || !contentType.includes('application/json')) {
+        throw new Errors.NoContent(
+          request,
+          response,
+          this.getErrorMessage('NoContentError', request, response)
+        );
+      }
+
+      // 2. Handle JSON parsing errors
+      try {
+        const data = await response.json();
+        return data as U;
+      } catch (e) {
+        const message = this.getErrorMessage('JsonParseError', request);
+        throw new Errors.JsonParse(request, message);
+      }
+    } catch (error) {
+      // 3. Handle network errors (e.g., no internet)
+      if (error instanceof Errors.Http) {
+        throw error; // Re-throw our custom errors
+      }
+      const message = this.getErrorMessage('ApiNetworkError', request);
+      throw new Errors.ApiNetwork(request, message);
+    }
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/http/Query.ts b/jslib/core/http/Query.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..bed466a86f0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/http/Query.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,96 @@
+export enum Operator {
+  Equals = '',
+  NotEquals = '!=',
+  LessThan = '<',
+  GreaterThan = '>',
+  LessThanOrEqual = '<=',
+  GreaterThanOrEqual = '>=',
+  Like = '_like',
+  Includes = '_in'
+}
+
+export interface QueryParam {
+  field: string,
+  value: string,
+  operator: Operator
+}
+
+/**
+ * Utility class to build URL query strings for API requests.
+ */
+export class Query {
+  private params: Record<string, string> = {};
+
+  /**
+   * Adds a filter parameter to the query string.
+   *
+   * @param root0          The destructured QueryParam object.
+   * @param root0.field    The field to filter on.
+   * @param root0.value    The value to filter against.
+   * @param root0.operator The comparison operator to use.
+   */
+  addParam({
+    field,
+    value,
+    operator = Operator.Equals,
+  }: QueryParam): this {
+    const encodedField = encodeURIComponent(field);
+    const encodedValue = encodeURIComponent(value);
+    this.params[`${encodedField}${operator}`] = encodedValue;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Adds a field to the 'fields' selection parameter.
+   *
+   * @param field The field to include in the response payload.
+   */
+  addField(field: string): this {
+    const encodedField = encodeURIComponent(field);
+    if (this.params['fields']) {
+      this.params['fields'] = `${this.params['fields']},${encodedField}`;
+    } else {
+      this.params['fields'] = encodedField;
+    }
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Sets the maximum number of results to return.
+   *
+   * @param limit The maximum number of results to return.
+   */
+  addLimit(limit: number): this {
+    this.params['limit'] = limit.toString();
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Sets the offset for pagination.
+   *
+   * @param offset The number of results to skip for pagination.
+   */
+  addOffset(offset: number): this {
+    this.params['offset'] = offset.toString();
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Sets the sorting field and direction.
+   *
+   * @param field The field to sort the results by.
+   * @param direction The sort direction.
+   */
+  addSort(field: string, direction: 'asc' | 'desc'): this {
+    const encodedField = encodeURIComponent(field);
+    this.params['sort'] = `${encodedField}:${direction}`;
+    return this;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Builds and returns the final URL search string.
+   */
+  build(): string {
+    return new URLSearchParams(this.params).toString();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/core/http/index.ts b/jslib/core/http/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..35d5d1fda07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/http/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+export {Client} from './Client';
+export {Query, QueryParam} from './Query';
diff --git a/jslib/core/index.ts b/jslib/core/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c3c83f23d0e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/core/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+export * as Errors from './errors';
+export * as Http from './http';
diff --git a/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/clients/AcknowledgementClient.ts b/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/clients/AcknowledgementClient.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e20da0ea0b7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/clients/AcknowledgementClient.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+import {Acknowledgement} from '../../';
+import {Http} from 'jslib/core';
+
+/**
+ *
+ */
+export class AcknowledgementClient extends Http.Client<Acknowledgement.Type> {
+  /**
+   *
+   */
+  constructor() {
+    super('/acknowledgements');
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/index.ts b/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..90f2ff59da5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+// Types
+export {Acknowledgement as Type} from './types/Acknowledgement';
+
+// Clients
+export {AcknowledgementClient as Client} from './clients/AcknowledgementClient';
diff --git a/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/types/Acknowledgement.ts b/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/types/Acknowledgement.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..632f8fd61a0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/entities/acknowledgement/types/Acknowledgement.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+export interface Acknowledgement {
+  ordering: number,
+  fullName: string,
+  citationName: string,
+  affiliations: string,
+  degrees: string,
+  roles: string,
+  startDate: string, // to be converted to Date object when possible
+  endDate: string, // to be converted to Date object when possible
+}
diff --git a/jslib/entities/index.ts b/jslib/entities/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..d6e73be5eba
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/entities/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+export * as Acknowledgement from './acknowledgement';
diff --git a/jslib/index.ts b/jslib/index.ts
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8476a12672d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jslib/index.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+export * as Core from './core';
+export * as Entities from './entities';
diff --git a/modules/acknowledgements/jsx/acknowledgementsIndex.js b/modules/acknowledgements/jsx/acknowledgementsIndex.js
index 3ef2883b9ec..3ddfd68c01d 100644
--- a/modules/acknowledgements/jsx/acknowledgementsIndex.js
+++ b/modules/acknowledgements/jsx/acknowledgementsIndex.js
@@ -17,6 +17,8 @@ import {
   DateElement,
   ButtonElement,
 } from 'jsx/Form';
+import {Acknowledgement} from 'jslib/entities';
+import {Query} from 'jslib/core/http';
 
 /**
  * Acknowledgements Module page.
@@ -103,14 +105,16 @@ class AcknowledgementsIndex extends Component {
    *
    * @return {object}
    */
-  fetchData() {
-    return fetch(this.props.dataURL, {credentials: 'same-origin'})
-      .then((resp) => resp.json())
-      .then((data) => this.setState({data}))
-      .catch((error) => {
-        this.setState({error: true});
-        console.error(error);
-      });
+  async fetchData() {
+    const query = new Query().addParam({field: 'format', value: 'json'});
+    const client = new Acknowledgement.Client();
+    try {
+      const acknowledgements = await client.get(query);
+      this.setState({data: {...acknowledgements}});
+    } catch (error) {
+      this.setState({error: true});
+      console.error(error);
+    }
   }
 
   /**
@@ -477,7 +481,6 @@ class AcknowledgementsIndex extends Component {
 }
 
 AcknowledgementsIndex.propTypes = {
-  dataURL: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
   submitURL: PropTypes.string.isRequired,
   hasPermission: PropTypes.func.isRequired,
 };
@@ -491,7 +494,6 @@ window.addEventListener('load', () => {
     document.getElementById('lorisworkspace')
   ).render(
     <Index
-      dataURL={`${loris.BaseURL}/acknowledgements/?format=json`}
       submitURL={`${loris.BaseURL}/acknowledgements/AcknowledgementsProcess`}
       hasPermission={loris.userHasPermission}
     />