library cloud abcd
DESCRIPTION
LibraryCloud API at HarvardTRANSCRIPT
LibraryCloudJuly 28, 2014 - ABCD
Agenda
● What is LibraryCloud?● The API● The architecture● Q&A
What is LibraryCloud?
Metadata platformConnect information flows underneathProvide programmatic access on top
Who is it for?
LTS toolInnovators/developersOther sites & platforms that want to integrate with library metadata
Example use casesCustom OPAC (e.g., Stacklife)Library analyticsSource of metadata for digital collections and exhibitsSpecialized search engineIntegrate with Teaching & Learning TechnologiesRecommendation engine (eventually)Integrate with Web sources (e.g. NPR, Wikipedia)
Two versions
v1: Library Innovation Lab prototypev2: Harvard Library
Workflow-basedRobust
The Item API
The Basics
Location: http://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items
Documentation: https://wiki.harvard.edu/confluence/display/LibraryStaffDoc/Library+Cloud
13 million Aleph open access metadata records in MODS format (XML or JSON)
Design Goals
● Easy to use● Retain the richness of existing library
data
Things you can do
Keyword searchhttp://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items?q=peanuts
Search scoped to specific fieldshttp://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items?title=peanutshttp://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items?title=peanuts&name=Schulz
Search with exact-match, wildcards, stemming.http://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items?title_exact=Peanutshttp://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items?title=p*nut
More things you can doFacetshttp://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items.json?title=peanuts&facets=resourceType
http://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items.json?title=peanuts&facets=resourceType,subject.name
Paging and sortinghttp://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items.json?title=peanuts&sort.asc=resourceType
http://api.lib.harvard.edu/v2/items.json?title=peanuts&start=100&limit=50
Things you can’t do (yet)
● Retrieve data in Dublin Core format● Search by date● Retrieve metadata about collections of
items● Create your own collections (tagging)● Retrieve metadata about usage of
items● View non-open access records
What lies beneathor, life beyond the API
LibraryCloud is more than the API
Metadata platformConnect information flows underneathProvide programmatic access on top
(this should be familiar)
Design goals
● Enable access to data for use cases that aren’t well supported by an API
● Remove bottlenecks to implementing new features
● Supportable by Library Technology Services (LTS)● Align with Harvard University IT technology
strategy● Extendable to new data sources (internal and
external to Harvard) and new applications
Logical Architecture
Sample Ingest Workflow
What does this get us?
Supportable technology stack: AWS (EC2, SQS), Java servicesScalable ingest processWell-defined interfaces throughout the ingest process
What’s next
● More data sources (VIA, OASIS finding aids, DASH, HGL, usage data etc.)
● Collections API (read/write)● OAI-PMH endpoint
How you can help
Use the API. Let us know what should be added, and what doesn’t work. Submit bug reports. Build cool stuff.
Contact: [email protected]
Questions?