Recently in Registry Category
OK, so it isn't Rock 'n Roll. So sue me. But just as rockers can have fun doing what they love, so can library coders. And this Thursday and Friday, that's exactly what a bunch of us will be doing in Seattle -- having fun. We're sorry you couldn't make it, but we have done this kind of thing before and before, and will do so again (a VALA Bootcamp already scheduled and who knows where/when next).
It's two days of library mashup goodness, fueled by our suite of APIs as well as many others from libraryland and beyond. Out of the two days, we hope to do presentations of options for no more than a quarter of the time, then code like mad, and regroup toward the end to show-off what we've accomplished. Like I said, we're sorry you couldn't make it. But if you're nearby, come. We have slots left and we'd be happy to make your acquaintance. As for the rest of you, if you feel some serious mojo seeping out of Seattle, at least you'll know why.
I just finished reading the article "Using the OCLC WorldCat APIs" in Python Magazine by Mark Matienzo (fondly known as "anarchivist" in his online persona), and I have to say he did an excellent job of describing not only how to use our APIs effectively, but also providing a very accurate and thorough historical context. I really don't think even an OCLC employee could have done any better.
But of course the real value of his piece is his "worldcat" Python module and his explanation and demonstration on how to use it. If you have access to the issue (or buy it for $7), there is even a temporary, limited access key you can use to test his code against our services.
This piece is required reading for any Python programmers wishing to take advantage of our APIs, and highly recommended for anyone else wanting to use our APIs, given his straightforward descriptions of the services and his examples on how he mashed them up along with other APIs (such as Google Maps) to create a useful service. This is exactly why we are offering these services, so it warms the cockles of our CPU to see it happening.
Written by colleague Joanna White, Product Manager of the WorldCat Registry.
Users can use a new Registry Web Service to retrieve an institution record in XML using the OCLC symbol.
For example:
http://worldcat.org/webservices/registry/lookup/Institutions/oclcSymbol/OCL?serviceLabel=content
Additional notes.
Q: What happens when no records are found?
When no WorldCat Registry record is found for a given OCLC Symbol , the web service returns "0" results in the XML response while the user interface presents options to adjust the search query.
Q: Do I need to adjust my service for searches by special characters?
Yes. Services that utilize these web services have to accommodate for special characters present in some OCLC symbols, for example symbols such as "A#2".
Q: What is included in the returned content?
If a user is not authorized, then the "public view" of the XML data is returned to the user. If the user is authorized, then the "authorized" version of the XML data is returned to the user. For example, "authorized" users will see IP Addresses for the record. More information on all the data fields is available with Data Fields Quick Reference at http://www.oclc.org/us/en/registry/support/Registryquickreference.pdf
WorldCat Registry detailed search is also available as part of our more general Registry Search web service. This SRU service returns HTML to a web browser but XML to software agents (e.g., curl)
Example of SRU search:
http://www.worldcat.org/webservices/registry/search/Institutions?version=1.1&operation=searchRetrieve&recordSchema=info%3Arfa%2FrfaRegistry%2FschemaInfos%2FadminData&maximumRecords=10&startRecord=1&resultSetTTL=300&recordPacking=xml&query=local.oclcSymbol+exact+%22OCL%22+not+local.logicalDelete%3D%221%22&x-info-6-deletedRecord=
Details about the three WorldCat Registry web services are listed here http://www.worldcat.org/wcpa/content/affiliate/default.jsp
