[open-bibliography] WorldCat API and Licensing

Mon Jan 10 21:11:51 UTC 2011

Actually, the best place to have any questions answered is the OCLC Developers Network list, which you can join by going to http://listserv.oclc.org/scripts/wa.exe?SUBED1=wc-devnet-l&A=1 and scroll down until you see WC-DEVNET-L. 
Roy Tennant
OCLC Research

On Jan 10, 2011, at 12:35 PM, "Karen Coyle" <kcoyle at kcoyle.net> wrote:

> 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
>> 
>> _______________________________________________
>> open-bibliography mailing list
>> open-bibliography at lists.okfn.org
>> http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/open-bibliography
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Karen Coyle
> kcoyle at kcoyle.net http://kcoyle.net
> ph: 1-510-540-7596
> m: 1-510-435-8234
> skype: kcoylenet
> 
> 
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> 

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