John Miedema

OpenBook 2 is now live on my website. It’s a bit of a tease since some of the best features can only be seen once you’ve installed it, but you can still see some of the changes. Here is an instance of OpenBook using the “medium” size template defined in the Options panel.
This version comes with additional links to LibraryThing, Google Books, and BookFinder. Don’t like the links? Get rid of ‘em. Want an Amazon link? Add one. Prefer fancier styling? No problem. You can change everything in the Options …

Here is the final list of links that will appear with the release of OpenBook 2, very likely in this order:

Source
Target
Note

Cover image
Open Library book record
 

Title
Open Library book record
 

Author
Open Library author record
 

Publisher
Publisher’s website
If the URL is provided as an OpenBook parameter

Read Online
Internet Archive scan
If a scan is available

Find in a Library
A particular library or WorldCat
If an OpenURL resolver is configured then that library, else WorldCat

LibraryThing
LibraryThing record
Valid ISBN or title/author search

Google Books
Google Books search
Valid ISBN or title/author search

BookFinder
Book Finder search
Valid ISBN or title/author search

In an earlier discussion I said I would add …

Librarians have been interested in OpenBook for their library website, except for one problem — OpenBook currently links to Open Library and WorldCat, but not directly to their library records.
A flagship feature of OpenBook 2 will be the ability to configure an OpenURL resolver on an Options panel. Specify the resolver URL in the panel, and OpenBook’s ‘Find in a Library’ link will connect to the resolver, passing the bibliographic for a particular book so that patrons can view the catalogue record. I have set up a tester for people …

For anyone who anticipated a release of OpenBook version 2 in April — likely because of claims I made to that effect — my apologies. But my day job and book release have been priorities. The good news is that I’m getting a handle on the travel required for my day job, and OpenBook 2 is now part of an independent research study for my MLIS. I have just completed setting up a new WordPress development environment, and coding is about to resume. Stay tuned!
(Ever read my post on Slow …

An OpenURL resolver is a handy way of linking bibliographic information on the web to library records. It is how OpenBook 2.0 will let libraries link from instances of OpenBook to their own library records. I notice that many academic libraries have published their OpenURL Resolver in the WorldCat Registry. But I am having difficulty finding public libraries that have one. Do you know of any?
Update: Found one at Boston Public Library. Still interested in hearing of others.

In the latest issue of the Code4Lib journal, Mike Beccaria has an article that reviews Google Book Search, OpenLibrary and Worldcat. He describes how he created a “New Books” widget for his library. Nice.
BTW, OpenBook 2 has been delayed a little by work and school, but it is still coming. Hoping to combine its development with an independent study at school. Stay tuned.

Dave Lighthart has provided a list of the top one thousand WordPress plugins. OpenBook slips in at the rank of 940. Out of 4,245 plugins, that puts it in the top 25%. Not bad. Just wait till they get their hands on OpenBook version 2.0.

Last night I finished coding the enhanced ‘Find in a Library’ feature for OpenBook version 2.0. The current version of OpenBook provides a ‘Find in a Library’ link to the WorldCat record for a valid ISBN. The new version of OpenBook will do much more:
Link to books in your particular library using OpenURL. Librarians are interested in using OpenBook on their library websites but want to point patrons to their particular library. With OpenBook version 2, you can specify an OpenURL resolver in the Options panel, and the ‘Find in …

When you spot a book on the web, and want to know more, what links are most valuable to you?
OpenBook currently provides a link to Open Library, to a publisher’s website, and to WorldCat. OpenBook 2.0 will have the ability to automatically generate links to virtually any book record that can be found through an ISBN or other standard bibliographic data. I can’t display them all by default, so I need to identify the essential links.
I’m thinking of adding a link to Amazon for book purchases, and a link …

A whirlwind of changes have already been completed on OpenBook. The real world is getting busy again so progress will slow down, but here is a sneak peak at the new OpenBook Options panel.
Display Mode. Sets a default display mode, either small, medium, or large. You can override this for a particular instance with an inline argument.
Embed COinS. You can choose whether or not to embed them. Handy when you have other COinS plugins.
Display Mode Templates. This is a big deal. These template editors allow you to choose the content, …

I am rewriting OpenBook line by line. I am noticing a few things that may be useful to you till it is done.
Tip 1. When using many OpenBook shortcodes in a single post, make the page load twice as fast by using the Open Library key instead of an ISBN.
If you have many OpenBook shortcodes, e.g., [openbook booknumber=”1234″], in a single post the post may load slowly. I am working on a fix for this, but in the meantime, you can speed up the load by using the OpenBook key …

I have been distracted from OpenBook by my work on FuzzyCat, but I am shifting gears now. It has always been the plan to have OpenBook host FuzzyCat so it makes sense to get OpenBook into its final shape.
New features:

WordPress administrative panels for setting all options
Styling moved to a separate stylesheet so people with CSS skills can modify the look
Select and order the display elements
Use in widgets
An indicator if the book is available to read on-line at Open Library
Additional COinS data
Configure proxy settings for users behind firewalls

Technical enhancements:

More efficient display …

I have gathered this information into this single official post. Any updates will be maintained here.
OpenBook is a WordPress plugin. You need to have your own WordPress installation, not the free WordPress server which does not support custom plugins.
Your server must support at least PHP 5.0. If you are getting an “unexpected {” error when you activate OpenBook, it is because you have an earlier version of PHP. Note: my server was set to PHP4, but upgrading to PHP5 was a simple switch.
OpenBook uses the JSON library. This comes …

Are you getting proxy errors when using OpenBook? Your organization may use a proxy server for security, and it may cause problems for OpenBook when it tries to access Open Library. Leslie Mitchell solved the problem by adding these two lines to the OpenBook function “getUrlContents”:

curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXY, “your.proxy.name”); // Put your proxy server name here
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_PROXYPORT, “your proxy port?); // Put the proxy port here

I will add this to the list of OpenBook modifications for a future version. In the meantime, you can use the above workaround. Many thanks …

Book widgets. It’s neat to show a book cover on a web page. If that’s your interest, cool, but is that all it is?
From my perspective, there’s an intellectual freedom issue involved. As I see it, the web is biased in favour of popular and commercial materials, leaving independent and alternative materials in the shadows. Take Cliff Burn’s book, So Dark the Night. I chanced on Cliff through our blogs. He really is an amazing writer. Fed up with establishment publishing, he went independent. To promote himself, he has put …