Using the DPLA API as

Community Reps WebinarAugust 19, 2014

A PLATFORM TO BUILD UPON

Danielle Cunniff Plumerdanielle@dcplumer.com@dcplumer

THE API: ACCESS TOMILLIONS OF ITEMS,FOR ANY PURPOSE

What is an API?

Application Programming Interface

. . . a set of functions or routines that accomplish a specific task

. . . a specification of how objects work in a given object-oriented language

. . . an implementation of a protocol

APIs you may have used

• Have you ever:• Accessed one library catalog from within another

library catalog?• Z39.50

• Embedded a Google Books preview in a library catalog?• Google Book Search Embedded Viewer API

• Geocoded addresses and place names for display on a map?• GeoNames Search Webservice• Google Maps API Geocoding Service

DPLA Apps• http://dp.la/apps/

DPLA Search Widget• https://github.com/lfarrell/DPLA-Search-Widget• https://github.com/lfarrell/Wordpress-DPLA-Search-Wi

dget-Plugin

• Generates a search query that is sent to the DPLA Portal (http://dp.la)

http://dp.la/search?q=Panda

Behind the magic curtain

1. User puts search term into HTML form

2. Form prepends DPLA search URL (http://dp.la/search?q=)

3. Clicking “search” sends query to DPLA API using HTTP GET

4. DPLA Portal opens in same page

For discussion for how to customize this widget, see http://www.dcplumer.com/2014/04/hacking-dpla-at-tcdl/

DPLA API Search Widget• https://github.com/dcplumer/dpla-search-tutorial/

• Generates a search query that returns results on your own web page using the DPLA API.

Working example at http://www.dcplumer.com/dpla-search/dpla-api-search.php

http://api.dp.la/v2/items?q=panda&api_key=$YOUR_KEY

Behind the magic curtain

1. User puts search term into PHP form

2. PHP prepends API search URL and appends API Key

3. Clicking “search” sends query to DPLA API using curl4. Get results back from DPLA

5. Interpret results using a PHP function called json_decode

6. Display results

For step-by-step discussion, see http://www.dcplumer.com/resources/handouts/dpla-api-tutorial-2/

DPLA API Results

Note: Shown in Mozilla Firefox with JSONView Extension

api.dp.la/v2/items?q=panda&api_key=$YOUR_KEY(API query with API Key appended)

DPLA API Key

See http://dp.la/info/developers/codex/policies/#get-a-key • Mac or Linux: Terminal (in Applications/Utilities)curl -v -XPOST http://api.dp.la/v2/api_key/YOUR_EMAIL@example.com

• Windows: CuRL or something similar • Browser plugins:

• Poster (Firefox)• Postman (Chrome)

DPLA API Key – Terminal Method

DPLA API Key – Postman Method

• Install Postman from Chrome Web Store (free)• Enter Request URL: http://api.dp.la/v2/api_key/YOUR_EMAIL

• Select method POST• Click Send

DPLA API Key – Postman Method

DPLA API Key – Postman Method

DPLA API Requests• Allows Boolean operators AND and OR plus wildcards (*)• Allows searching within fields (similar to refinements in

DPLA Portal)

• By Format• Contributor• Partner• By Date• By Language• By Location• By Subject

DPLA API Requesthttp://api.dp.la/v2/items?sourceResource.title=panda&sourceResource.type=image&api_key=$YOUR_KEY

Searching within Fields• Any field in

sourceResource:• title• collection• stateLocatedIn• type• description• Subject

• Provider (Partner)• dataProvider

(Contributing Institution)

http://dp.la/info/developers/codex/requests/

Discovering Facet Optionshttp://api.dp.la/v2/items?sourceResource.title=panda&facets=sourceResource.type,provider.name&api_key=$YOUR_KEY

Facet: Type

Facet: Provider Name

Designing a DPLA Advanced Search• See http://europeana.eu/portal/widget/editor.html for ideas:

DPLA Apps• http://dp.la/apps/

Getting Code

Getting Code

Getting Code

Getting Code

API Key

API Query

App Wishlist• http://dp.la/info/developers/ideas-and-projects/

App Wishlist• http://dp.la/info/developers/ideas-and-projects/current-ideas/

visit dp.laContactinfo@dp.la

@dpla