Watzek Library’s Digital Services group has been busy this summer applying the concept of a mashup to the L&C library catalog and Summit. According to Wikipedia, a mashup is a “web application that combines data from more than one source to make an integrated experience.” If you access the catalog or Summit from the library homepage and you’re using Firefox or Internet Explorer (sorry, not available for Safari, yet), you’ll notice some added widgets when viewing the full record for books or AV materials. Notably, we are now offering:
- a clickable cover art image, courtesy of Amazon
- a link or search box to Google Book Search
- direct RefWorks linking
- links to a book review search in Academic Search Premier
We hope these new features add to your research experience.
Note, however, that the system is in a beta state. Please send suggestions or report bugs to refdesk@lclark.edu.
If this piques your interest in mashups, there are many other great examples of them on the web, among them Walk Score and HousingMaps. If you don’t find a mashup that does what you want, you can always make your own.
