End user development of digital collection mash‐ups: A survey to assess the suitability of current infrastructure

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to elucidate the value of opening up digital collections for end‐user development of mash‐ups and to evaluate the suitability of libraries' infrastructure for this purpose.

Design/methodology/approach

The author surveyed ARL members' digital collection platforms to assess the terms of use statements and options for programmatic access.

Findings

The findings show that 17 per cent of the institutions surveyed offer some means for mashing up digital collections, and that, while more than half the collections surveyed have some form of terms of use or rights statements, they were not written to support this type of use case.

Research limitations/implications

Results of the research suggest that a mashable digital collection service is feasible for most libraries.

Originality/value

This paper will be of interest to librarians who are considering providing application programming interface (API) access to their digital collections.

Citation

Long, H. (2012), "End user development of digital collection mash‐ups: A survey to assess the suitability of current infrastructure", OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, Vol. 28 No. 4, pp. 199-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/10650751211279139