RLO repository API

This section is strictly for technical developers. It describes the basic Application Programming Interface (API) for the RLO repository, which at the moment is relatively rudimentary. You can query the database via URL querystring and return data (for now) as a RSS feed. This feed is 'enriched' with Dublin Core metadata, with DC elements in the <channel> and <item> nodes as well as the standard RSS elements (see the feed source for details). The feeds are thus harvestable by repositories and directories (eg Jorum), and of course you can subscribe to them in a simple RSS newsreader.

Note that this API is still very rudimentary and under construction. I hope to produce a more powerful API for the RLO repository in the near future, once certain 'political issues' at work have been resolved.

You can generate your own RLO newsfeed using the following URL:

sonet.nottingham.ac.uk/rlos/rlo_rssfeed.php

with one or more of the following querystring parameters.

Querystring parameters

num_items

The number of items (RLOs) to display in the feed. If you exceed the number of released RLO titles, this will reset to all RLO titles

order_by

Which field to order the results by. Options are:

release_date (default)
title
rlo_num
url

sort_order

List results by ascending or descending order. Two options:

desc
asc

subject

Database ID of subject classification. Options (subject number in parentheses):

Examples

There are a few example URLs below to give you an idea:

Default call without params - returns 25 most recently released RLOs
RLOs by title (alpha ascending)
All items classified in Biological Processes ordered by title ascending
25 items in Pharmacology ordered by release date ascending (ie oldest 25 releases)

See also the subject links on the main RSS feeds page.

To Do
Data returned as JSON
Add more query terms (eg keyword/tag)