[open-bibliography] WorldCat API and Licensing

Mon Jan 10 20:35:27 UTC 2011

Jim, one way to reach a bunch of potential WC API users is through the  
code4lib list, which is where the library code-writers hang out. They  
also have an active IRC channel where you can find people who will  
answer questions. Go to
   http://www.code4lib.org
and you'll see how to get in touch with them.

kc

Quoting Jim Pitman <pitman at stat.Berkeley.EDU>:

> I just succeeded in getting a WorldCat Basic Search API Key and
> executing a query of the form
>
> http://worldcat.org/webservices/catalog/search/opensearch?q=[query]&wskey=[your  
> key]
>
> According to the documentation I should be also able to execute
>
> http://www.worldcat.org/webservices/catalog/content/[oclc number]?wskey=[key]
>
> but I cant seem to make this work. Anybody with experience of this  
> API able to advise? Or suggest
> where else I might find help with this?
>
> I notice WorldCat now tolerates Non-Commercial use of data obtained  
> through this API. Even if not ideal, this is way
> better than their draconian terms when I last looked a year or so back.
> NC seems adequate for my current purpose, which is the creation,  
> maintenance and open publication on the
> web of comprehensive personal bibliographies. It a question for this  
> group what license I could/should place on
> such biblios containing records derived by deduplication and  
> enhancement of records from multiple sources
> including WorldCat, MathSciNet, ZMATH, ACM Guide, Microsoft Academic  
> Search, Google Scholar, ....
> I am planning to apply CC0, and  to provide  comprehensive links  
> back to whereever the data was derived from.
> I expect that no source will dare challenge this and ask me to  
> remove what came from their  records. For if they
> do they become less visible as a biblio source. So I propose such  
> deliberate matching and republication
> of matched records with links back to sources as a general strategy  
> for opening up biblio data, even data currently held
> by large organizations quite protective of their bibliographic turf.
>
> In particular, I do not see that e.g. the NC clause in the WorldCat  
> API prevents me doing this, provided
> I do not put advertizing on my site, which I wont. Neither does it  
> seem that their NC clause prevents
> me from offering my cleaned and merged data as JSON/RDF/whatever,  
> which other agents could then harvest from
> my site and do what they please with, even commercial things.
>
> Suggestions/reactions welcomed.
>
> --Jim
>
> ----------------------------------------------
> Jim Pitman
> Director, Bibliographic Knowledge Network Project
> http://www.bibkn.org/
>
> Professor of Statistics and Mathematics
> University of California
> 367 Evans Hall # 3860
> Berkeley, CA 94720-3860
>
> ph: 510-642-9970  fax: 510-642-7892
> e-mail: pitman at stat.berkeley.edu
> URL: http://www.stat.berkeley.edu/users/pitman
>
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>

-- 
Karen Coyle
kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
ph: 1-510-540-7596
m: 1-510-435-8234
skype: kcoylenet