FEATURE
Library Data Opening library data
Libraries generate and hold large amounts of data. David Stuart looks at the potential benefits of sharing and allowing people to innovate with it
individuals and organisations to innovate around it. Although such practices were once primarily associated with leading-edge web organisations such as Google and Amazon, it is increasingly expected to be part of every organisation’s online strategy. This ranges from supermarkets such as Tesco (www.
techfortesco.com/forum) looking to exploit the commercial potential of making data available, to government departments responding to demands for increased transparency and access to potentially valuable publicly-funded data (for example,
data.gov.uk). Like any other type of organisation, libraries have much to gain from making their data publicly available. And, while they have a long tradition of sharing data and resources, it is important that they look beyond the small community of library and information professionals. Generally the role of the library in the web
A
of data is focused on helping researchers make their data available online in institutional repositories, as well as facilitating access to data that is already available online. However, it is important to recognise that libraries also have considerable amounts of their own data that would have value if it were publically available. I am not talking here of publishable data that may exist within a library’s collection, but the vast quantities of data that are collected during the provision of library services. This is both data that is collected within internal library systems and those of external parties: from the data stored in public catalogues, to download rates within institutional repositories and subscription
16 Research Information APR/MAY 2011
n increasingly wide range of organisations are starting to recognise the advantages of making some of their data publicly available online, and allowing external
services. When such data is made publicly available external developers can start to build applications that extend library services in a way the library may not have had the time, money, or capability to do. This effect can already be seen with
Twitter, the microblogging site. Its range of application programming interfaces, which enable computer programs to interact with a web service, have allowed the creation of
Most importantly,
the release of library data offers the opportunity for it to be used in ways unthought-of by the
library and information community
numerous applications interacting with data from the core service. Applications have been built on a host of different platforms, including multiple different mobile-phone operating systems and social network sites. The basic Twitter service of sharing 140 character text messages has been extended to include the sharing of richer content, such as photos, video, and location information. Most importantly, the data can be combined with data from other sources to provide new insights and services, for example displaying ‘tweets’ on a map to provide insights into differing opinions on a breaking news story. Comparisons between Twitter releasing
data and the average library making its data available can only go so far, as the average
library doesn’t have access to anywhere near the same number of potential developers as an international service, the early adopters of which were the technical elite. Nonetheless, not only do libraries have established communities of users, but their data has recognisable value that is likely to appeal to developers beyond their immediate community of users, especially when it can be aggregated from multiple sources. The most obviously useful and visible
library dataset is the library catalogue. In fact, as an increasing number of library resources are provided in an electronic format, it may be a user’s only visible point of interaction with library services. There is obvious value for a library’s users from such services being made available on numerous different platforms. Library users shouldn’t be forced to interact with a library’s services in a single place (albeit a virtual one) but should be able to interact with such services where and when they want them. This could be a user scanning the barcode of a book they stumble across in their local book store to see if it is available in a library they have access to, or someone being able to search their local catalogue without leaving the social network site where they increasingly spend much of their time.
Borrowing insight While the data in the library catalogue is useful, so too is the other data collected by the library and information services. The practice of proactively suggesting books of potential interest to readers has been an integral part of Amazon’s online success. Libraries making usage data available could enable the development of numerous applications to help users in identifying relevant resources. Unlike Amazon, which necessarily focuses on the books that people buy, libraries are
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