Title of the Preconference: Creating Library Web Services: Mashaps and APIs
Presenter: Karen Coombs
The pre-conference session began shortly after 9AM.
Ms. Karen Coombs introduced herself and refreshed participants memory about what “web services are?†and why we need Mashaps and APIs, and what we can do with them and how they work. She presented sample.
“An application-programming interface (API) is a set of programming instructions and standards for accessing a Web-based software application or Web tool. A software company releases its API to the public so that other software developers can design products that are powered by its service.â€
Mashaps and APIs both bring different and disparate data together and enhance the accessibility of an existing source of data, and improvs usability and user interfaces, and make web pages more dynamic and engaging. They allow the users (patrons) to make informed decision about the information the want or need.
You can go to: http://sites.google.com/site/litapreconf2009/Home to see the documentation of the preconference, especially examples of Mashaps and APIs as well as the list of universities who are currently developing and implementing these services.
There are a set of technologies that enable the work of Mashups. They include REST, SOAP, XML_RPC.
Below are disparate notes taken during the presentation. Please see the .ppt of Karen. The afternoon hands-on will begin shortly and I will give you an update after 5 PM.
What are web services:
Machine readable data or procedures accessed via “httpâ€
On a remote
Easiest web service style
Readable by human
Mosr popular form of web services today
Creat read, update and delete
POST, GET, PUT, Delete
REST RPC hybrids
REST: language used to interact with the server
API have a nice documentation of their method
What you get is XML or JSON: Java script object note
XML data manipulation: use XPath (DOM : document object Module)
Feed title: /feed/title
Item title: //entry/title or/fee/entry/title/Item Content //entry/content
Item URL //entry/link@href
IN XML
ad: is a name space prefix
After morning break:
Possible type of data:
1) bibliographic data
2) Book covers
Digital library metadata and objects
Reviews
Ratings
Library information
Map data
See talsi documentation
OPEN library: 1 web page for every book that is published
Serial solutions sfx lots of library databases platforms,several library catalog have APIs
OCLC members: offers APIs. Worldcat search APIs
Search using open search or SRU and you will get XML, or Dublin core
You can also get Atom, RSS, MARCXML
xID service
History of ISSN
Get metadata
Worldcat registry
OTHER API we’re using:
Delicious and flicker have APIs
API from the US government. New York times have and API for their content