Using the API

Summary

The purpose of the WorldCat Recommender Service is to provide recommendations for books and other printed materials based on FRBR grouping.

The recommendations provided for resources are based on the collective information available from the larger pool of related resources, identified using the OCLC FRBR Work-Set algorithm.

Please note: The API expects all requests to be UTF-8 encoded. Responses are also UTF-8 encoded.

Access methods

There is one URL endpoint in regard to the service and it is constructed in the following manner using a standard REST GET request:

http://experimental.worldcat.org/recommender/MLT/[standard number]?inst=[institution id]&count=[result size]
&sort=[sort option]

where:

Response details

The response will be returned in REST/XML and include a status code as will be displayed as part of the response tag. Ex:

<response code="0">success</response>

possible response codes include:

Example Response:

Calling the following URL with ISBN 978-0316769532 (J.D. Salinger’s ‘The Catcher in the Rye’):

http://experimental.worldcat.org/recommender/MLT/978-0316769532

yields the following response:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<mlt xmlns="http://recommender.oclc.org">
  <request count="20" fmt="Book" ocn="287628" srt="book" type="sn" value="978-0316769532"/>
  <response code="0">success</response>
  <likeItems>
    <likeItem author="Potok, Chaim." fmt="Book" ocn="180015" srt="book" title="The chosen: a novel /"/>
    <likeItem author="Potok, Chaim." fmt="Book" isbns="9780449213445,0449213447" ocn="17686850" srt="book" title="The chosen /"/>
    <likeItem author="Potok, Chaim." fmt="Book" isbns="9780394461373,0394461371" ocn="221242" srt="book" title="My name is Asher Lev."/>
    <likeItem author="Rodriguez, Abraham," fmt="Book" isbns="9781562828455,1562828452 :" ocn="26674077" srt="book" title="Spidertown : a novel /"/>
    <likeItem author="Kwok, Jean." fmt="Book" isbns="9781594487569,1594487561" ocn="449284776" srt="book" title="Girl in translation /"/>
    <likeItem author="Groff, Lauren." fmt="Book" isbns="9781401340872,1401340873" ocn="707725995" srt="book" title="Arcadia /"/>
    <likeItem author="Christensen, Kate," fmt="Book" isbns="0385494505,9780385494502" ocn="40776954" srt="book" title="In the drink /"/>
    <likeItem author="Roth, Henry." fmt="Book" isbns="9780374118198,0374522928,0374118191 :,9780374522926" ocn="23940900" srt="book" title="Call it sleep /"/>
    <likeItem author="Di Prima, Diane." fmt="Book" isbns="9780140235395,0140235396" ocn="39762517" srt="book" title="Memoirs of a beatnik /"/>
    <likeItem author="Selby, Hubert." fmt="Book" isbns="9780714530246,0714530247" ocn="38055825" srt="book" title="The willow tree : a novel /"/>
    <likeItem author="Buckhanon, Kalisha," fmt="Book" isbns="0312332688,9780312332686,9780312332693 (pbk),0312332696 (pbk)" ocn="56194711" srt="book" title="Upstate /"/>
    <likeItem author="Nunez, Sigrid." fmt="Book" isbns="0060926848 (pbk.),9780060926847 (pbk.)" ocn="34094491" srt="book" title="A feather on the breath of God : a novel /"/>
    <likeItem author="Tannen, Mary." fmt="Book" isbns="1573220086 (acid-free paper),9781573220088 (acid-free paper)" ocn="31708510" srt="book" title="Loving Edith /"/>
    <likeItem author="Russell, Paul Elliott." fmt="Book" isbns="9780312205140,0312205147,0312263031,9780312263034" ocn="41320212" srt="book" title="The coming storm /"/>
    <likeItem author="Kluger, Steve." fmt="Book" isbns="0060821442 (pbk.),9780380976454,0380797631,9780060821449 (pbk.),9780380797639,0380976455" ocn="38270831" srt="book" title="Last days of summer : a novel /"/>
    <likeItem author="Swados, Elizabeth." fmt="Book" isbns="0670842028,9780670842025" ocn="30033348" srt="book" title="The myth man /"/>
    <likeItem author="Abraham, Pearl," fmt="Book" isbns="9781573220156,1573220159" ocn="31971184" srt="book" title="The romance reader /"/>
    <likeItem author="Roth, Henry." fmt="Book" isbns="0312104995 (v. 1),9780312104993 (v. 1),9780312169800 (v. 4),0312169809 (v. 4),9780312143411 (v. 3),0312105010 (limited ed.),9780312105013 (limited ed.),0312143419 (v. 3),0312117779 (v. 2),9780312117771 (v. 2)" ocn="28965174" srt="book" title="Mercy of a rude stream /"/>
    <likeItem author="Hughes, Langston," fmt="eBook" isbns="0826263879 (electronic bk.),9780826263872 (electronic bk.)" ocn="56731885" srt="book" srt2="digital" title="The novels Not without laughter, and, Tambourines to glory /"/>
    <likeItem author="Blue, Treasure E." fmt="Book" isbns="0345493281 (pbk.),9780345493286 (pbk.)" ocn="123912632" srt="book" title="A street girl named Desire : a novel /"/>
  </likeItems>
</mlt>

More Information

For more information you may also consult the WorldCat Recommender Service API Explorer Tool