WiLSWorld Preconference Workshop – How to Hack It: An Intro to Coding With the WorldCat Search API
Monday, July 28th
9:00 am-5:00 pm Preconference
How to Hack It: An Intro to Coding With the WorldCat Search API
At the Madison Public Library – Central Library, Third Floor Community Room
Join Steve Meyer from the OCLC Developer Network for a beginner-level session that will take you from programming concepts to hackathon participant in a single day. We’ll spend the first part of the day walking through the building blocks of coding a simple search interface for the WorldCat Search API. In the afternoon, we’ll help you use that knowledge to add more functionality to that interface, creating your own working search application.
This class will assume you have a working familiarity with HTML, simple CSS and XML. We will build on this basic knowledge by adding computer programming – in this case, PHP – to your toolbox. A basic understanding of programming concepts like variables, conditional logic and looping through data structures will help you keep up, but no coding experience is required. If that sounds like you (or a state you aspire to!), come spend the day with us and turn working knowledge into a working application.
Registration is FREE but space is limited! Register for WiLSWorld today before seats are full.
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The WiLSWorld Preconference API Hacakthon Workshop, which is next Monday, July 28th, will be held in the Community Room of Madison Public Library’s Central location: http://www.
Here is some important information for you about the event regarding parking, construction, software you should install before the workshop, and some resources for background and further exploration.
Public parking is available at the Overture Center Parking Ramp (http://www.cityofmadison.com/
Summer in Madison can only mean one thing – lots of torn up roads. Right now, that does’t appear to affect the area near the library, but this can change with impressive quickness. For information on road construction, see the “Downtown Projects” on this page: http://www.cityofmadison.com/
You will need to have a working PHP environment on the computer you bring to the event. Installing the programming environment is beyond the scope of the session, so be sure to have it set up prior to the event. We recommend using Bitnami, which is quick and easy to install and uninstall.
MAMP (Mac): http://bitnami.com/stack/mamp
WAMP (Windows): http://bitnami.com/stack/wamp
Be sure to take note where it installs so you know where your htdocs directory is located. Put your documents in this location (e.g. on a Mac, it’s /Applications/mampstack-[
Accessing the OCLC API requires a wskey (web services key). If you do not already have a WorldCat.org account, please visit http://oclc.org/user/create-account.html.en.html and create an account. Next, send an email to with the subject line “WiLSWorld Pre-Conference”. Include yourworldcat.org username in the body of the email. The OCLC Developer Network team will create a WSKey for your use at the workshop. Watch your email for the follow up notification so you can access it easily on the day.
Resources
Though you will be able to participate in the workshop with only basic knowledge of HTML / XML, here are some resources for further exploring and understanding the functions of APIs.
- OCLC has a number of useful resources for using the WorldCat Search API. The info at http://www.oclc.org/developer/develop/web-services/worldcat-search-api.en.html will help you get started, and includes a short overview, some example projects, and links to library catalog URLs, library locations, the WorldCat Search API explorer, and an FAQ page. On this page you can also check out the applications to see how others have used the API.
- Code Academy has a track of API tutorials, getting you started using APIs from YouTube, NPR, Evernote and more: http://www.codecademy.com/tracks/apis
- Here is some helpful background information about APIs, including what they are, what they are used for, and a history of modern APIs: http://apievangelist.com/
- PHP has provided some info on getting started using PHP: http://php.net/manual/en/getting-started.php
- And if you are rusty on HTML or CSS, W3School’s tutorials can help: http://www.w3schools.com/
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