This week in DITA we focused on APIs, Web Services and mashups. In very simple terms, that even I can understand, APIs (application programming interface) are used as platforms so data can be shared between different web services, and so allow people to embed content to create their own digital spaces. This includes some amazing website and digital resources. A particularly good example of this is the British Library online learning resource Sisterhood and After: An Oral History of the Women’s Liberation Movement, which includes text, film and audio recordings.
Thanks to APIs, the tools are there to create amazing multimedia experiences. Just one website can contain google maps, live twitter feeds, footage from YouTube, etc, etc. However, as with much in the digital world, there needs to be a creative edge combined with a theoretical understanding. Without any sense of design and aesthetics, websites with embedded elements can just look busy and messy (they can give you a headache by just looking at them!). Also as this technology can be used by anyone without any in-depth IT knowledge, there does seem to be something of a pedagogical gap. We as human beings do need to understand something before we can fully appreciate it.
Just as a postscript, I thought I would mention mashups. Mashups are basically two or more sources used to create a single interface or product. Isn’t that just a new form of mixing? This basic idea has been around since the birth of Hip-Hop when DJ’s mixed together two vinyl records to make one track. This first started in New York in the late seventies and early eighties. The best DJs, such as Afika Bambattaa, turned this in to an art form. Just like todays mashups, technology and art combined to create something very special.
A mixer and turntables – technology meets art!
*Please note my blog now has my Twitter feed and Google Maps (showing location of City University) now embedded.
Library & Information Stuff 