You know, as I think about trying to integrate my own code into that
framework, I realize that my own code is Ruby, and that framework is PHP.

And I realize that what we _really_ need is not a programming library in
a particular environment, but a set of (simple! simple!) HTTP XML APIs
that we can implement for each ILS.  You could say "Gee, we already have
these, MARC-XML and SRU and whatever (does marc holdings have an xml
format? Cause it's holdings we're really interested in at the moment, it
seems), but it hasn't been implemented." So maybe we've got to pare it
down and make it simpler, something we can start with bare bones for
what we want to do.

Take David Walker's code for instance, and see what data it actually
retrieves/exposes through PHP API. And then expose that data in an XML
structure from an HTTP rest-ish request instead. And provide some kind
of (SRU?) interface for searching what we need to search (maybe just on
isbn/issn for now?).

If someone specifies such a thing, I will try to provide such an
interface to Horizon. Then everyone, via screen scraping or direct db
access or whatever methods their ILS provides, can go about providing
such a thing for their ILS. And soon we have an ILS-independent
'standard' API for accessing, well, at least certain information we need
for services we want to provide.And the open source ILSs can add it too,
directly, instead of hacky screen scraping, etc.

Jonathan

Godmar Back wrote:
> On 5/8/07, Karen Tschanz <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>> Hi, Godmar:
>>
>> I would be interested in receiving links from libraries that has
>> implemented this, so that I could see the results. Thanks for your help!
>
> Given that what I propose is still in the design phase/vaporware,
> asking for examples may be premature .... yet here is one:
> http://libx.org/libxess/cue.html shows what a possible application of
> this technology might look like.
>
> Also, keep in mind that what I'm proposing is not a new service that
> libraries could deploy directly to their users -- rather, it's a piece
> of infrastructure that would allow libraries to deploy services built
> on this infrastructure to their users.
>
> It's a bit of a chicken and an egg problem, except that we will go
> ahead and provide an initial chicken (LibX) and an initial egg
> (David's script.)
>
> - Godmar
>

--
Jonathan Rochkind
Sr. Programmer/Analyst
The Sheridan Libraries
Johns Hopkins University
410.516.8886
rochkind (at) jhu.edu