Important
November 2024 - We had to transfer this repository from the GitHub ualibweb organization to this new UA-Libraries-Research-Data-Services organization. Unfortunately, any Jupyter Book related HTML GitHub page links do not get automatically redirected. We think we have corrected all links, but let us know if you find any issues. In addition, some R code tutorials that were originally MIT Licensed, are now licensed under the GPL-3 License to comply with the licensing terms of dependent R libraries.
The University of Alabama Libraries Scholarly API Cookbook is an open online book containing short scholarly API code examples (i.e., “recipes”) that demonstrate how to work with various scholarly web service APIs. It is part of the University of Alabama Libraries efforts to support Research Data Services. Read the book here.
Most of the code in this repository is licensed under the MIT License. This includes code written to be used with Wolfram Mathematica and MathWorks MATLAB. However, these proprietary software packages themselves are not covered under the MIT License, and users must have valid licenses for Mathematica and MATLAB to run the associated code.
The Python scripts in this repository are licensed under the MIT License. However, these scripts may rely on external libraries such as matplotlib, pandas, and others. These libraries are licensed under their own respective terms, and will need to be installed separately. Refer to the documentation of each library for installation instructions and licensing details.
The C code in this repository is licensed under the MIT License. This repository provides only the source code, and users will need to compile the C programs to run them. Some of the C code depends on external libraries such as curl, jq, and YAZ, which are licensed under their own respective terms. These libraries will need to be obtained and installed separately by the user.
The Unix Shell tutorials use Bash scripts, which are licensed under the MIT License (Bash itself is licensed under the GNU General Public License). Some of the included scripts may rely on external tools such as curl, jq, and gnuplot, each of which is licensed under its own terms. Users must obtain and install these tools separately. Refer to the documentation of each tool for installation instructions and licensing details.
Lastly, most of the R tutorial scripts are MIT licensed, but some are licensed under the GPL-3 License because they depend on GPL-licensed R libraries (refer to the documentation of each R library for installation instructions and licensing details). The R tutorials with GPL-3 licenses are indicated at the top of the respective files and organized separately in the folder src/r-gpl3/.
We have endeavored to follow the appropriate terms and usage policies of each scholarly API, web service, and Z39.50 server. We have linked to the terms and policies where possible. Some database APIs may require a valid library subscription, institutional access, or individual account to use their services. Please be responsible when reusing these scripts and respect the API terms and usage policies (e.g., query limits, record downloads, data sharing restrictions). Data output snippets shown in this book are for demonstration purposes and are credited to the individual API or database service. The output generated from APIs or services remains subject to the terms and conditions of the respective provider. Some outputs (e.g., U.S. Government works) may be in the public domain, while others may require attribution or adherence to other conditions.
If you reuse the code, attribution would be appreciated. Please link to the Cookbook and cite our manuscript:
Link to Cookbook: https://ua-libraries-research-data-services.github.io/UALIB_ScholarlyAPI_Cookbook
Citation: Scalfani, V. F.; Walker, K. W.; Simpson, L.; Fernandez, A. M.; Patel, V. D.; Ramig, A.; Gomes, C.; Moen, M. T.; Nguyen, A. M. Creating a Scholarly API Cookbook: Supporting Library Users with Programmatic Access to Information. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 2023, No. 104. https://doi.org/10.29173/istl2766.
@article{scalfani_creating_2023,
title = {Creating a {Scholarly} {API} {Cookbook}: {Supporting} {Library} {Users} with {Programmatic} {Access} to {Information}},
issn = {1092-1206},
shorttitle = {Creating a {Scholarly} {API} {Cookbook}},
url = {https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/istl/index.php/istl/article/view/2766},
doi = {10.29173/istl2766},
abstract = {Scholarly web-based application programming interfaces (APIs) allow users to interact with information and data programmatically. Interacting with information programmatically allows users to create advanced information query workflows and quickly access machine-readable data for downstream computations. With the growing availability of scholarly APIs from open and commercial library databases, supporting access to information via an API has become a key support area for research data services in libraries. This article describes our efforts with supporting API access through the development of an online Scholarly API Cookbook. The Cookbook contains code recipes (i.e., tutorials) for getting started with 10 different scholarly APIs, including for example, Scopus, World Bank, and PubMed. API tutorials are available in Python, Bash, Matlab, and Mathematica. A tutorial for interacting with library catalog data programmatically via Z39.50 is also included, as traditional library catalog metadata is rarely available via an API. In addition to describing the Scholarly API Cookbook content, we discuss our experiences building a student research data services programming team, challenges we encountered, and ideas to improve the Cookbook. The University of Alabama Libraries Scholarly API Cookbook is freely available and hosted on GitHub. All code within the API Cookbook is licensed with the permissive MIT license, and as a result, users are free to reuse and adapt the code in their teaching and research.},
number = {104},
urldate = {2023-10-13},
journal = {Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship},
author = {Scalfani, Vincent F. and Walker, Kevin W. and Simpson, Lance and Fernandez, Avery M. and Patel, Vishank D. and Ramig, Anastasia and Gomes, Cyrus and Moen, Michael T. and Nguyen, Adam M.},
month = oct,
year = {2023},
}