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Many users are in a rush to use the library, but some are still able to spare some time to explore the library's collections. Aside from perusing the shelves directly, it would be convenient for patrons to be able to find similar items of interest.

Is it possible to license Amazon's book recommendation engine for use with a public or university library's online catalog, or for use as a separate program (as it might be a systems integration nightmare to retrofit it to an older catalog system)?

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4 Answers

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I think LibraryThing for Libraries is what you're looking for!

LibraryThing for Libraries (LTFL) is a system of OPAC enhancements, designed to make your catalog more engaging and informative. Give your patrons exciting new content, including: Tags, Reviews, Similar Books, Shelf Browse, Series, Awards, Stack Maps, Lexile measures, and Other editions. Pick and choose which enhancements you'd like. Browse, search and discover your library's holdings in a new, powerful, and engaging way.

http://www.librarything.com/forlibraries

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Oh yeah- that's a great idea! I'm curious, though- this uses the LibraryThing API, right? What happens if LibraryThing (Gawd forbid) goes down? – David Rothman May 23 '12 at 19:19
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Also, it isn't free and it'll only work with items that have an ISBN. – David Rothman May 23 '12 at 19:24
I don't have any personal experience with LibraryThing, unfortunately. I came across it while doing a project about social media and OPACs during my graduate program. – KatieR May 23 '12 at 19:30
up vote 4 down vote

I believe Amazon still uses an item-to-item collaborative filtering method ('people who bought this book also bought these other books!').

Details in this article: http://www.win.tue.nl/~laroyo/2L340/resources/Amazon-Recommendations.pdf

Given that, it really shouldn't be too hard to create a similar system...or build one from an existing open source solution like http://easyrec.org/

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I had forgotten about the open source version. Fantastic! – jonsca♦ May 23 '12 at 16:45
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We looked into using Amazon reviews a couple of years back but, at that time, it was against Amazon's TOS to use their content without the primary purpose of its use being to send traffic/sales to Amazon. We've tried multiple times to get Amazon to discuss with us licensing options for any of their content but Amazon has never been remotely interested in working with us.

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this is still the case: (ii) in accordance with the terms of this License Agreement and within the express scope of the license granted in Section 6; and (iii) to send end users and sales to the Amazon Site. You will not use the Product Advertising API, Data Feed, or Product Advertising Content with any site or application, or in any other manner, that does not have the principal purpose of advertising and marketing the Amazon Site and driving sales of products and services on the Amazon Site. affiliate-program.amazon.com/gp/advertising/api/detail/… – eby May 25 '12 at 20:00
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I think you can use Amazon's Product Advertising API to provide suggestions. It mentions "Similar Products" as one of its services. I can't tell from their page whether it's a paid service or not but it's probably free.

Edit: I thought I had seen the Product Advertising API in use and I finally remembered where. Jason Clark of Montana State University has a beta "BookMeUp" app that uses the API to suggest another book to read based on search results. He's also released the source code on Github if anyone wants to reuse it. I couldn't find the license but much of his other work is under the GPL. It's not clear to me why this hasn't moved out of beta; it seems pretty polished. It points users to Amazon as an end point so it doesn't seem like it would violate the terms of the API.

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