libbib (version 1.6.4)

worldcat_api_bib_read_info_by: Get bibliographic info from a standard number

Description

Access the results of a WorldCat bib read API search by ISBN, ISSN, or OCLC number. The MARCXML returned by the API is parsed and the function returns a data.table containing the oclc number, ISBN, ISSN, title, author, MARC leader, and the 008 control field, respectively.

Usage

worldcat_api_bib_read_info_by_oclc(
  x,
  wskey = getOption("libbib.wskey", NULL),
  more = FALSE,
  debug = FALSE
)
worldcat_api_bib_read_info_by_isbn(
  x,
  wskey = getOption("libbib.wskey", NULL),
  more = FALSE,
  debug = FALSE
)
worldcat_api_bib_read_info_by_issn(
  x,
  wskey = getOption("libbib.wskey", NULL),
  more = FALSE,
  debug = FALSE
)

Value

A data.table containing the OCLC number, ISBN, ISSN, title, author, MARC leader, and the 008 control field, respectively,

Arguments

x

A string representation of the standard number that the function chosen accepts.

wskey

A WorldCat API key (default is getOption("libbib.wskey"))

more

A logical indicating whether more infomation from the MARCXML should be returned (publisher, bib level etc....) In the interest of memory consumption, the default is FALSE

debug

A logical indicating whether the HTTP and bib read API responses should be printed (for debugging) (default is FALSE)

Details

Though this function gets all standard numbers (OCLC, ISBN, ISSN) from the MARCXML, the standard number that was supplied to the function will be the one in the returned data.table. For example, if you use worldcat_api_bib_read_info_by_isbn, the returned data.table will have that ISBN in the ISBN column, not the ISBN in the MARC record.

If something went wrong, all columns (except the one corresponding to the supplied standard number) will be NA.

This function is helpful to call before attempting to use the Location and Classify API functions as it will ensure that the supplied standard number actually resolves to a OCLC work.

As with all API access functions in this package, it's up to the user to limit their API usage so as to not get blocked. These functions are deliberately not vectorized for this reason; they only accept one standard number at a time.

This (and other) WorldCat API communication functions require a WorldCat API key. The easiest way to use these functions is to set a global options with your key: options("libbib.wskey"="YOUR KEY HERE")

Final note: all of these API functions seem to work better with OCLC numbers than any other standard number. If multiple standard numbers are available, using the OCLC number is always preferred.

Examples

if (FALSE) {
worldcat_api_bib_read_info_by_isbn("9780984201006")
#         oclc          isbn   issn                        title
#                                       
# 1: 462894360 9780984201006    The Great Debate about Art /
#          author                   leader
#                             
# 1: Harris, Roy, 00000cam a2200000 a 4500
#                                        oh08
#                                      
# 1: 091031s2010    ilua     b    000 0 eng c

worldcat_api_bib_read_info_by_issn("13602365")
#        oclc   isbn     issn                        title author
#                                  
# 1: 37787277    14664410 The journal of architecture.   
#                      leader                                     oh08
#                                                         
# 1: 00000cas a2200000 a 4500 971015c19969999enkbx pso     0   a0eng c

}