From: NISO Announce <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Thu, 25 Aug 2016 12:28:18 -0400

Interested participants, especially those with experience in library
vendor software and/or use of APIs and REST and mobile technologies,
are encouraged to contact NISO regarding working group formation.

Baltimore, MD - August 25, 2016 - Voting Members of the National
Information Standards Organization (NISO) have approved a new project
to modernize library-vendor technical interoperability to improve the
access of digital library content and electronic books. Building upon
a set of API (Application Programming Interface) Requirements
developed by Queens Library, a new NISO Working Group will create a
foundational API set that the library community can build on. This set
will fulfill an array of user and library needs, including quicker
response times, flexible item discovery and delivery options, improved
resource availability, and more seamless integration of electronic and
physical resources.

Library patrons should expect an excellent user experience and
requisite level of convenience should be built into all
customer-facing tools that service library patrons. This project is
being undertaken to bring patrons' library experiences in line with
the modern tools and technologies-especially mobile technologies-they
are accustomed to using in other areas of their lives. Currently,
libraries use varied technologies, some of which rely on outdated and
slow communication protocols, to provide services to users. By
establishing standards on RESTful Web services APIs as well as
standard mobile extensions, the library industry will leave many
archaic, difficult-to-use tool sets behind, and allow libraries more
flexibility in meeting local needs.

"11.2 million patrons visited the Queens Library in 2015," says Kelvin
Watson, Chief Operating Officer, Senior Vice President, Queens
Library. "It's imperative that we keep them coming back by providing
fast, efficient service that rivals what they experience in the
commercial world. Queens Library, which serves one of the five most
diverse counties in the United States, has a vested interest in
undertaking this work to customize library operations for specialized
local needs. We are excited to have initiated this project at NISO and
we look forward to working with other participants to actualize our
draft framework."

Volunteer working group members will deliver a foundational framework,
in the form of a NISO Recommended Practice, that will communicate an
understanding of how libraries should provide and receive data. These
library-related communications and functions could include customized
genre or category views for browse, search, and discovery of
collections; user authentication; transmission of account information;
management of barcodes; check out and return of items, streaming of
online material, and other requirements as determined by stakeholders.
Work will also include the creation of several proof-of-concept
services that use the proposed approach to deliver services and a
registry to enable supporting data providers and system vendors to
communicate their support of the framework. The full work item
approved by NISO Voting Members is available on the NISO website.

NISO's Associate Director of Programs, Nettie Lagace, comments, "NISO
is eager to begin this work to improve library-patron interactions.
Advancing vendor-library communication processes through consensus
discussions and agreement is a natural fit in our portfolio of work.
NISO's mission is to streamline the work of libraries and other
information providers to get content into the hands of consumers."
Lagace continues, "We encourage working group participation from
libraries, library system providers, providers and distributors of
e-books, recorded books, and other forms of digital content and media.
We are looking forward to hearing from interested volunteers who can
dedicate their technical talents to this important effort." Those who
are interested in participating in the E-Content API Framework working
group should contact Lagace at [log in to unmask]

About NISO

NISO, based in Baltimore, Maryland, fosters the development and
maintenance of standards that facilitate the creation, persistent
management, and effective interchange of information so that it can be
trusted for use in research and learning. To fulfill this mission,
NISO engages libraries, publishers, information aggregators, and other
organizations that support learning, research, and scholarship through
the creation, organization, management, and curation of knowledge.
NISO works with intersecting communities of interest and across the
entire lifecycle of information standards. NISO is a not-for-profit
association accredited by the American National Standards Institute
(ANSI). For more information, visit the NISO website.