DLF ILS Discovery Interface Task Force - draft recommendation available

The Digital Library Federation (DLF) ILS Discovery Interface Task Force
(a working group convened last summer by DLF) has recently made
available a draft version of its API recommendation for enabling
integration between integrated library systems (ILS's) and external
discovery applications.

http://project.library.upenn.edu/confluence/download/attachments/5963787/ILS-DI-Snapshot-2008-Feb15.doc

This Task Force was charged with analyzing issues involved in
integrating ILS's and discovery systems, and creating a technical
proposal for accomplishing such integration. For more information, see:

https://project.library.upenn.edu/confluence/display/ilsapi/Home

 From the introduction of the draft recommendation:

"The public interfaces currently provided by most ILS's cannot by
themselves meet the demands of users in a world where the availability
and sophistication of digital resources and web applications has
increased significantly. This does not simply reflect badly designed
interfaces; it reflects the fact that users now need a wider variety of
capabilities than any one software package can be expected to provide.
At the same time, the bibliographic data and services that the ILS
manages are crucial for the effective use of libraries. These trends
imply that the ILS needs to become a platform that supports appropriate
interfaces for discovery applications living on top of it, instead of
trying to do everything for the user on its own."

The Task Force is seeking feedback on this draft recommendation from
both the library and vendor communities. Please feel free to post a
comment to the wiki version of draft [1] or send us an email. [2] We
anticipate your feedback!

-emily lynema
Member, DLF ILS Discovery Interface Task Force

[1]
https://project.library.upenn.edu/confluence/display/ilsapi/Draft+Recommendation
[2] ILS-DI <at> LISTS.DIGLIB.ORG

--
Emily Lynema
Systems Librarian for Digital Projects
Information Technology, NCSU Libraries
919-513-8031
emily_lynema <at> ncsu.edu