Find Libraries in London

I’ve finally made some progress on the library lookup project I started last year. There’s still more I’d like to do, but it’s reached the stage where it’s somewhat usable.

I’ve been working on two separate parts:

• a web service for developers
• a front-end for users wanting to find libraries or check book availability

I’ll try and write a little more about it later, but here are a few things users should know…

Web Service

• currently offers access to a database of 371 libraries in London
• the database holds very limited information about libraries: name, postcode, latitude and longitude
• 346 out of 371 libraries can be checked for book availability
• the availability checker is experimental—don’t rely on it!

Front End

• currently checks libraries for a maximum 5 editions of each book
• popular books will therefore return inaccurate results
• relies on the following services: Library Lookup, xISBN, Google Book Search
• uses Mapstraction, jQuery and lots of jQuery plugins
• the availability checker is experimental—don’t rely on it!