I did attend the Mashathon in Seattle, though I'm hard pressed to come up with evidence that I did so. This is about the best photo that I have found...I've got my back to the camera, second from the left, wearing the grey top.
Later in the two day session, I presented on an idea that I have...using Amazon subject lists and directing users from titles to WorldCat.org (or, more specifically, to a WorldCat Local instance). I demo'd a simple, published Yahoo Pipe that illustrated the idea.
However, small problem: the complexity of the Amazon feed eludes what Yahoo Pipes supports. The Pipes program relies upon the ISBN number embedded in a string in each feed item. However, the Kindle items on the list don't have ISBNs, at least in the data.
I wrote a 35 line Visual Basic .NET/ASP.NET program (output) that repurposes the Amazon feed in the Computers and Internet category. Kindle book links on the list will direct users to the Amazon record; print book links on the list will take the user to the WSU WorldCat service. (To see the feed from the consumer end, look in the right pane of this space, under heading "Amazon.com: Bestsellers in Books > Computers & Internet.") In any event, I hit the wall in Yahoo Pipes on this one...it's a good programming tool, but it has obvious limits.
My goal is to create some lists for several Amazon categories.
1 comment:
Working on a summary piece, Al, for the OCLC Developer Network blog. So there will be documentable proof that you were there! If there aren't enough Flickr photos: http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Mashwa09&w=all
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