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A: The initial beta development phase came to an end in November, 2014. Work continues to automate data updates and complete some API development, and LibraryCloud will be reviewed for next steps and further work in March. LibraryCloud currently supports access to over 12 million Harvard bibliographic records from Aleph, plus 4 million visual information records from Harvard's VIA, and 2 million Harvard archival finding aid components.
Q: What is the relationship of the two LibraryClouds?
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A: None, except that both are platforms that provide access to library metadata. LibraryCloud could eventually become a way Harvard shares data metadata with the DPLA. And we are fans of the DPLA. There are some informal connections, however. The project lead for LibraryCloud (Jeffrey Licht of Pod Consulting) was also the leader of the DPLA's platform development team. Further, the group that created lilCloud also created the first version of the DPLA’s platform.
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A: LD4L is a Mellon-funded project initiated driven by Harvard Library, Cornell University Library, and Stanford University Library. The Harvard Library Innovation Lab and Stanford Library are both partners is also a partner in that project. LD4L is a Linked Open Data project. LibraryCloud is not. We hope and expect that eventually there will be some level of integration between the two projects.
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A: StackLife is a visual library browser developed by the Harvard Library Innovation Lab. It currently uses the lilCloud API, but at some point we might switch it to the current LibraryCloud API. LibraryCloud incorporates a bibliographic item usage metric, Stackscore, that is computed by lilCloud.
Q: Can I use LibraryCloud for my institution's library?
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Q: Can I get the bibliographic data as a download or only through the API?
A: The Aleph bib data is already available for bulk download, thanks to Harvard’s Open Metadata policy that put all but a tiny percentage of those records into the public domain. VIA and finding aid data is not currently available for bulk download.
Q: How do you manage the privacy of the users whose the usage data you’re making available through the API?
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A: We use MODS because it’s a well-developed standard that captures a vast amount of detailed data relevant to library items. Our API returns JSON or XML modeled on MODS or in the Dublin Core format. Dublin Core is simpler, and is used more widely across the Web, but MODS preserves more of the library-based information.
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