XML Server and web services
Web services are applications that run on remote servers that you can access over a network. Unlike a web page, these apps reply with data that in a form (like XML, or RSS, etc) that can be used in other applications. This makes it possible to use that data in new ways, perhaps combining data from several sources or presenting it to patrons in new contexts.
Some of the best known web services include those from Amazon.com, Google, Yahoo, and Flickr (links go to API documentation). There are more, so please name any interesting ones. BBC News is creating BBC Backstage with a set of web services, including one that will integrate geolocation data. Larry D. Larsen at the Poynter Institute has some ideas about how that might work out.
I spoke of many of the possibilities of this technology in my IUG 2005 presentation on III’s XML Server. David Walker of CSU San Marcos has done some of the best work with III’s XML Server I’ve seen so far, but I’d like to start a conversation, on how these might effect your library. What happens when the data is freed from the box and you can use it where you need it?
Technorati Tags: api, apis, flickr, geolocation, google, libdev, libraries, library, patrons, web services, xml, yahoo
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