Google now offers a book search API which allows other sites to embed book previews, query for certain book information, or just link to books at Book Search (the former Google Print). In Google’s blog post announcing this, Google mentions they already partnered with several online book sites who use their widget-style preview functionality – like this BooksaMillion.com page which shows a “Google preview” button. Clicking the button opens a box which lets you page through parts of the book, search, and zoom.
To embed a book preview, all you need to do is write a bit of JavaScript which retrieves a book by e.g. its ISBN (International Standard Book Number). You can determine basic things like width and height of the box, but also offer more advanced behavior like automatically paging through the book. You can also access Google’s Atom-based REST page by searching, for instance, for a title – the retrieved Atom may allow you to grab the thumbnail URL, a book description, its ISBN and more. Furthermore, you can connect to Book Search community features like ratings, labels and reviews.
Note Amazon also offers a book search API and more
[Thanks WebSonic!]
[By Philipp Lenssen | Origin: Google Book Search API Released | Comments]
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Reprinted with permission from Google Blogoscoped.
Philipp Lenssen from Germany, author of Google Apps Hacks, shares his views and news on the search industry in the daily Google Blogoscoped. Items here are reprinted with his permission.
The opinions expressed in this Weblog are those of the writer and may not represent the opinions of Network World.
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