Cox Crow
Asking the Stupid Questions Since 1971
Wednesday, October 02, 2002"The press is impotent when it abandons itself to falsehood."
— Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Seymour, 1807
In the Best of All Possible Worlds
Jenny's post on the Earth's Largest Library got a bug under my skin. Once the data is digital, you just need to know how to get at it. After that, it should become a user interface problem, rather than the cumbersome analog to digital conversion.This is not to say that UI problems are simple. But they are a lot more possible than not having the data in the first place.
Here's a search in SWAN for an ISBN number: http://swan.sls.lib.il.us/search/i?SEARCH=0553211668
Here's the same search at ISBN.nu: http://isbn.nu/0553211668
Can we get to the catalog entry for the closest library from an URL? If the database knows the locations of the libraries. The United States Postal Service makes some data available through an API, but not the list of ZIP codes, or, more importantly, their proximity to each other. SBC's SMARTpages, on the other hand, tries to find things nearby.
(Note: MyLibrary)
1:52:21 PM # Google It!
Perhaps Userland needs a more efficient way to track bugs.
1:39:36 PM #
categories: Writing Online
