xISBN v2 available
OCLC’s Eric Hellman announced that the new version of xISBN is up. The API documentation for xISBN explains it all and has lots of examples. It’s a nice improvement over the first version and has lots of new options.
Xiaoming Liu, also of OCLC, gave a short talk about this at the Code4Lib conference in Georgia in February. It was recorded, and the videos are online: go to the Code4Lib 2007 Lightning Talks page, browse down the Wednesday talks, and choose whichever of the “xISBN Update” links you prefer.
As you know, Bob, if you give xISBN an ISBN, it will return a list of ISBNs of other manifestations of the same work. LibraryThing’s thingISBN does the same thing, but people decide how to group things into works, instead of algorithms, as at OCLC. Both have been the subject of much discussion here lately. They’re both very useful and work very well together.
I’m frustrated by the spin on this. For most people, it’s the same as it was. (Checksum-fixing is frosting, not cake.) But now libraries–including OCLC members—have to pay for it, unless they stay under 500 queries/day. And commercial websites like Bookmooch and BookJetty—well, forget about it. Yet Eric’s announcement and the blog posts all omit this most significant change. Where’s the lead?
Comment by Tim — 9 May 2007 @ 8:48 amFor example, all *your* work–documenting the strengths and uses of the two APIs–has relied on xISBN’s non-commercial license. Don’t you have to pay now?
Comment by Tim — 9 May 2007 @ 8:50 amThanks for pointing that out, Tim. The development version of the API docs doesn’t have the “Subscription-specific usage” information at the bottom, and I didn’t read the new documentation closely, because I hadn’t expected changes like this. I hadn’t noticed the query limits and new prices.
I see that http://www.worldcat.org/affiliate/webservices/xisbn/app.jsp says, “The xISBN Web service is free for non-commercial use when usage does not exceed 500 requests per day…. The service is also available on a subscription basis for non-commercial and commercial use for usage that meets or exceeds 500 requests per day.”
Here’s the pricing sheet: http://xisbn.worldcat.org/xisbnadmin/doc/price.htm
I hope I don’t have to pay. OCLC generously whitelisted my IP number so that I could go over the 1,000 queries per day limit when I was doing the heavy comparisons. I can’t pay hundreds of dollars. If I’m cut off I’ll have to divvy my queries into daily portions.
I’m disappointed that OCLC is limiting access to xISBN instead of opening it up. This is the wrong way to go.
Comment by William Denton — 9 May 2007 @ 12:35 pm“This is the wrong way to go.” Yes. But this is something I expect from OCLC, whom I’ve long regarded as the Microsoft of the library world: something that can’t be ignored but shouldn’t be allowed to throw its weight around, either.
Steve
Comment by Steve Oberg — 9 May 2007 @ 1:05 pmTim is being disingenuous by sobbing for commercial book sites; we understand from customer inquiries that Tim has refused to permit access to thingISBN to commercial sites that might compete with Library Thing.
William is welcome to request free access to xISBN; as he states, we’ve accommodated the excellent work he has been doing.
We’ve worked hard to develop a business model that will support a full time developer for xISBN and related services while at the same time preserving and maintaining a useful level of free access. Please judge the direction we have chosen based on the value we deliver over the coming years.
Eric
Comment by eric hellman — 9 May 2007 @ 3:21 pmYou’re right. We have a free, non-commercial license for thingISBN. We provide the full feed, and the license has no limits. We have let various sites use it—ones that are semi-commercial, like Bookmooch. But no, we don’t give it out to commercial companies competing with LibraryThing.
We are a business. You’re not. Why are we more free?
Comment by Tim — 10 May 2007 @ 1:53 pmThese are just different models and we happen to make different judgments, and we are all evolving. Putting labels on OCLC is perhaps becoming too easy and convenient nowadays.
Comment by xiaoming liu — 10 May 2007 @ 11:13 pm[...] forum to label OCLC as the Microsoft of the library world. I had also used that characterization in a comment posted to The FRBR Blog a few days before. This drew the ire of at least one OCLC staff member who commented on how easy it [...]
Pingback by OCLC: the Microsoft of the Library World? - Family Man Librarian — 29 May 2007 @ 2:51 pm