Many apologies for the cross-posting, but I wanted to make sure all the
involved parties were fully represented.

I have 2 questions that relate to the work of the ILS Discovery
Interface Task Force [1], the work of the jangle community [2], and the
code4lib community in general.

1. At the Discovery Interface Task Force breakout session at code4lib,
there were many folks interested in moving beyond the abstract DLF
recommendation document [3] to more detailed function specifications
that could actually be implemented with specific technologies and
metadata formats. While we'd love to be able to fully specify a single
uniform API specification, those of us on the DLF group feel we lack the
time, resources, nor expertise to do this without community input.

The idea of providing a wiki where anyone could contribute ideas about
implementing the recommended functionality (which would hopefully evolve
into best practices over time) was well received at code4lib. However,
DLF doesn't have an openly available wiki and may not be shepherding
this work in the future. Code4lib.org *does* have an openly available wiki.

At the same time, I see a lot of interest going into an API
specification for jangle. I think these projects could work together on
defining metadata formats and schemas that support the DLF
functionality. But I don't know if the jangle specification will provide
a direct mapping to the functions in the DLF recommendation. Jangle
already has an open wiki hosted by Google Code (and a Drupal installation).

In the spirit of democratic openness, I wanted to poll the community.
Does it make sense to start a space on the code4lib.org wiki regarding
implementation of the DLF recommendation? Is that an acceptable use of
the wiki? Or does it make more sense to point to the jangle wiki as a
place for discussion?

2. During the code4lib breakout session, we also discussed creating a
wiki where library developers could share their past work to access data
stored in the ILS (ex: I've written a function that retrieves live
holdings in SirsiDynix, I've written a function that places a hold in
Innovative, etc.). We would hope to move toward a point where the code
could actually be posted and shared in an open source fashion (no one
really knows about NDAs yet). Is this an acceptable use of the code4lib
wiki? Google Code makes sense for posting code, but seems like overkill
if all you need is a wiki.

Please let me know if you have any input or suggestions.
Thanks!

-emily lynema

[1] https://project.library.upenn.edu/confluence/display/ilsapi/Home

[2] http://jangle.org - community-driven, open source project to create
a uniform API specification across all ILS products as well as code for
individual connectors for each individual ILS system to implement that
API. Jangle could serve as a reference implementation / binding for the
DLF recommendations, or the recommended DLF functions could be
implemented on top of Jangle and its system connectors.

[3] For the Feb. 15 draft, see
Wiki:
https://project.library.upenn.edu/confluence/display/ilsapi/Draft+Recommendation
Word: http://tinyurl.com/2bzrje

--
Emily Lynema
Systems Librarian for Digital Projects
Information Technology, NCSU Libraries
919-513-8031
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