On Mar 7, 2008, at 8:22 AM, Emily Lynema wrote:
Also, there was discussion about building an Open Library API (to enable some cool integration with wikipedia), and I suggested a that libraries using an API would want the search results to include information about whether the title has a digitized copy. So I would hope the service that you're envisioning is something that would be provided by an Open Library API (but we don't know when that might come about).
I sat in on this discussion at the Meeting. It was driven by a consultant-type who is working for Wikipedia. His desire was to create an API that allowed people to authoritatively and consistently cite content from Wikipedia to Open Library. Ultimately, this API would allow a person to: * search Open Library via word, phrase, or key * return list of hits * select item * create "citation" * insert citation into Wikipedia article * regularly check the validity of the citation Regarding the first two items I tried to suggest the use of SRU. Regarding the last item, I tried to suggest OAI. In both cases I was shot down. "Too complicated", at the same time, they were outlining API's that had the *exact* functionality of SRU and OAI. I sort of saw his point. "Library" protocols are usually overly-complicated, yet he was totally unaware of either protocol. I also think he was suffering a bit from the Not Invented Here Syndrome. We also got into a bit of a religious war regarding the definition of REST-ful Web Services. In the end we talked a lot about JSON and a tiny bit about ATOM. -- Eric Lease Morgan University Libraries of Notre Dame
