eBooks Search API Integration Guide

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With the abundance of electronic resources available today, many schools and public libraries prefer to access their educational assets in one place.  Federated Search Engines and other Discovery Tools allow libraries to do just that - easily browse through multiple content sources in their catalog at the same time.

The Infobase Search API provides a much needed "Communication Bridge" between our content and any Discovery Tool that our mutual customers may be using.  api.infobase.com/ quickly indexes search results from our eBook Platform in a universal XML format.  These customizable XML search results can then be parsed with search results from other outside sources by an Infobase Discovery Tool partner.

In this Search API Integration Guide, you will find everything you need to know to get started as an Infobase Discovery Tool partner.

Search Query

In order to utilize the API, there are certain query parameters that must be added to the URL routing:

Api.infobase.com/bsearch/accountID/vendorID/productID/searchterm/format

"bsearch" represent book search with differs from our online database API.

Account ID

This is the customer's Infobase Account ID.  If you are using the API to harvest meta-data, there are specific Discovery Tool Partner Account IDs separated by Market/Region that can be provided.

Vendor ID

This is the Discovery Tool Partner ID that will be provided once a connection has been established with Infobase.

Product ID

This is the Product ID for what Infobase products you would like to query.  Here are the currently available product IDs:

191 Literary Classics eBook Collection
142 Master Academic eBook Subscription Collection
141 Master Public Library eBook Subscription Collection
139 Mid/High School eBook Subscription Collection
230 Sacred Texts eBook Collection

**To return results from all collections that you have access to, use "0" as the product ID in the search query

Search Term

This is the key word(s) you are attempting to search by.  In order to get all results, please leave this blank.  It is possible to do multiple word searches as well.

For example, "Dogs+AND+Cats"/"Dogs+OR+Cats"

Format

This is the desired output format you would like the results to be returned in.  The available formats are:

  • XML
  • XML-file (this will return a file stream)
  • XML-zip
  • JSON

Paging:

There is now a paging mode for the API query engine that should help get around any timeout issues. You have two new parameters added to the tail of the URL, after the format command.

They are the # of Rows to return in the query and what Row to start on.

suffix to add:    0/0 in form of     row/start 

The search below returns 1000 rows starting at the first item and highest weight

Here an example for databases:

Api.infobase.com/bsearch/accountID/vendorID/productID/searchterm//xml/1000/0

For more results you can then change the last suffix to start further out.

 Search Results

After you have submitted a search query to the API, your results will then be returned with the available meta-data for your requested records.  Here are the currently included meta-data fields for the Infobase API:

Field Name

Description

Database

The Infobase Platform that contains the record

AssetType

Asset type of the record

TitleID

The Infobase specific ID for the record

 ISBN The ISBN of the Book
 Author The author of the book

Title

Title name of the record

Description

Full text description of the record

Source

Source of Record

Record URL

Account specific access URL to the record (authentication required)

copyrightYear The Copyright year of the record.

imageURL

a link to the thumbnail image of the book

   
   
   
   

Please note: The Account ID in the Record URL will match the Account ID provided in the original Search Query.  Using a customer's correct Account ID is the only way for any authentication settings and usage statistics recording to work properly.

Sample Search

Here is an example Search Query for the term "frogs":

http://api.infobase.com/bsearch/0/0/0/frogs/xml

The Account ID and Vendor ID have been set to 0 for this example.

Once completed, the XML end result would look like this for the first record returned:

<Root xmlns:json="http://james.newtonking.com/projects/json" json:id="1">
<Record json:id="2">
<Database>Classroom Video on Demand,Learn360</Database>
<AssetType>Educational Video</AssetType>
<TitleID>80418</TitleID>
<isSegment>false</isSegment>
<Producer>Planet Bonehead Studios</Producer>
<SegmentNumber>0</SegmentNumber>
<Title>A Future For Frogs: Planet Bonehead</Title>
<Description>
Students learn the importance of frogs and toads to healthy ecosystems and to human health as well. The adaptations of these incredible amphibians to their environment is showcased through brilliant photography and video of endangered frog species.
</Description>
<Source>Infobase</Source>
<RecordURL>
http://cvod.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?wID=0&xtid=80418
</RecordURL>
<runTime>26:24</runTime>
<copyrightYear>2010</copyrightYear>
<language>English</language>
<collections>CVOD Master, Learn360</collections>
<subjects>
Environmental Problems & Management,Biology,Animal Biology,Environmental Science,Ecosystems,Survey / Basic Concepts,Populations, Communities & Biodiversity,Economics, Conservation, & Public Policy,Survey: Environment,Zoology
</subjects>
</Record>
 
Record URL Authentication
It is the Discovery Tools partner responsibility to ensure that the customer's Infobase Account ID is used in the provided Record URLs.  When harvesting for meta-data, the Account ID returned in the results will be for the Discovery Tool Partner's specific account.  Using a customer's correct Account ID is the only way for any authentication settings and usage statistics recording to work properly.  Please replace the Account ID when being displayed for a mutual customer.

<RecordURL>

https://ebooks.infobase.com/PortalPlaylists.aspx?ISBN=9781438188027&wID=0

</RecordURL>

Additional Help

 If you have any questions/concerns, or are looking to establish a Discovery Tools partnership with Infobase, please contact our API Support Staff at support@infobaselearning.com.

 

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