“The Good, The Bad and The Ugly!” Using APIs to Develop Reading List Software at the University of Huddersfield

By

Dave Pattern

Slides available at EPrints Huddersfield

Description

This presentation will provide an overview of the development of “MyReading”, an award-winning bespoke reading list solution for the University of Huddersfield in the UK.  By using a varied selection of APIs — including Summon and 360 Link from Serials Solutions, SirsiDynix HIP, OCLC’s xISBN, COPAC and Amazon — the total development time was greatly reduced and the library has successfully delivered a service that has been widely embraced by academic staff.  At present, over 99% of all the active course modules have a reading list available to students.  Some of the APIs were good and some were ugly, but is there such a thing as a bad API?

Dave has been the Library Systems Manager at the University of Huddersfield (UK) since 2004 and has been a web developer since 1995. He was one of the Library Journal’s “Movers and Shakers” in 2009 and was IWR’s “Information Professional of the Year” in 2010.  He is also proud to be a shambrarian!

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