Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data

Citation

Macdonald, A. (2010), "Library Mashups: Exploring New Ways to Deliver Library Data", Library Review, Vol. 59 No. 5, pp. 376-378. https://doi.org/10.1108/00242531011047109

Many people will have heard the term Web 2.0 mashup (not to be confused with the musical mashups where two or more songs are blended together), but never given much thought to what a mashup was or how one might enhance a library service. Like the musical mashup, a web mashup is a web resource that uses two or more sources to create a new page or application mashing the data together. The stated goal of this book is that it will be “A guide to teach the basics of what mashups are and how they have been used in libraries worldwide” and it generally lives up to this goal. What really enhances the book is the accompanying website and all the online examples covered in each chapter, which are detailed in appendix A and can be explored along with the book. In fact, to get the most out of the book, it is a must to read it by your computer, dipping in‐and‐out of the many mashup examples and resources. Given that one of the dangers of this book is that it may become out of date relatively quickly, it is advantageous that the text indicates the accompanying website and links will be kept up‐to‐date.

The book is in five sections, starting with what mashups are, mashing up library websites, mashing up catalogue data, incorporating maps, digital images and videos, and lastly adding value to library services. The chapters are by different authors, ensuring a range of views and teaching by example, with a majority of articles being written by American‐based authors. The book is a selection of the mashup experiences of different people, most of whom are involved with libraries. Many chapters have code examples (e.g. PHP, JavaScript, HTML) and this may put some readers off. Although, as the book explains, simple tools exist to implement some mashups and to explore the book fully one needs to be willing to get one's hands dirty. The inclusion of a glossary is a welcome addition for those not familiar with many of the technical terms and abbreviations used in the text. Being primarily a book of different authors' experiences of mashing up internet resources, it could easily have lacked coherence but does not. It is, however, not a book one can just sit and read through, and is best approached by reading the first section (chapters 1‐4) and then dipping into chapters that are of interest.

The book suggests there has been an explosive increase in mashups, due to two reasons. Firstly, major internet companies (Google, Amazon, and Yahoo!) have opened up data to be used without licensing negotiations. Secondly, the arrival of new mashup tools that makes creating mashups easier for non‐programmers. An example of the latter is yahoo pipes, which is a useful mashup tool that uses a graphical user interface to set‐up mashups. It is clear from the book that though some mashups are simple to achieve, others require a lot of skill and time. Libraries can benefit from incorporating new, dynamic content from other sources using mashups, and by making their catalogue data available to mash. Libraries are potentially data providers for mashups, mashup creators and also mashup consumers.

The book does not ignore the downsides of mashups, indicating that there are potential privacy, copyright (and other rights), reliability and provenance issues. The book highlights the need to be careful not to make personal data available and to look at use agreements before using data sources. Another significant drawback, particularly in the longer term, is relying on data sources that may not always be there. Provenance is an issue as the origins of data used in a mashup are not always acknowledged. Although potential downsides are discussed, this is one subject in the book that could have been explored more fully, not least because the consequences for a library of contravening copyright or privacy legislation are significant.

This book is a welcome addition to the resources that aid the exploration and use of library data and a fuller realisation of libraries websites. The well‐constructed supporting website (http://mashups.web2learning.net/) is a significant resource on its own and is an essential companion to the book. It is clear that, to fully explore the mashup ecosystem, programming skills and knowledge of Applications Programming Interfaces are required. The modern librarian, however, already possesses the skills to begin exploring this new area and should recognise its potential.