The New York Public Library is one of the landmarks of the city and provides a copious amount of digital and tangible content. Today, the library has announced that it has released a series of API tools that developers can use to tap into the big data and develop custom interfaces.
The new Digital Collections API allows software developers both in and outside of the library to write programs that search the digital collections, process the descriptions of each object, and find links to the relevant pages on the NYPL Digital Gallery.
One of the benefits the API provides is better searching options and being able to index genre specific data. By default, the library system only allows you to search for one specific thing at a time. If a developer wanted to make a bulk search option, it would be possible. Publishers and authors could benefit from this set of tools, because you can scan all of the important download and lending information. It can give you a strong indication on what genre is doing very well and provide clues as to which type of literature is popular.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.