Getting started

So you want to create a new application, widget or mashup using DigitalNZ content, but aren't sure where to start? Here are a few tips to get you going.

1. Consider the available data

So here at DigitalNZ we collect metadata about New Zealand's digital content. Metadata is information that describes a particular item, like a title, the name of its creator, or the date it was produced. Understanding what we've got will help you figure out what you can do.

Via the API you can submit a query to our search index and it will return information about the various NZ images, audio, video, magazines, documents, and web pages that we're aggregating from our content partners.

The quality and availability of the metadata varies considerably, but in general you can get access to this kind of information:

  • Title
  • Description
  • URL to the item
  • URL to a thumbnail
  • Publisher
  • Creator
  • Date
  • Location
  • Language
  • Rights information

You can get a feel for the info in the full search index, and can find further details about the metadata in the API documentation.

2. Review the beginners guide to data mashups

As part of the Mix and Mash competition this beginners guide was produced to introduce folk to APIs and mashups. There's also a video of the workshop.

3. Pick a topic

Figure out what are you trying to achieve; or what problem are you looking to solve? And if you are not quite sure what you want, that's okay, check out Programmable Web's mashup dashboard for some inspiration.

4. Choose other data services

If you want to bring in additional API services and mix things up a bit, Programmable Web also has a great API dashboard to guide you. Each sector will also have it's own lists of specific API, for example Library APIs. If you're just starting out then maybe keep it simple, start with one type of API, and progressively add more layers as you get more confident.

5. Grab a DigitalNZ API key

To access the DigitalNZ API you'll need a key which you append to all of your calls. Grab your key, and you'll need to signup if you haven't already. You should also read the terms of use for the API, they're worth a read so you know what's involved. The key will look something like this 4a1f7eend7f51869tdn8f7956bqa9d8

When you make a call to the API you'll append it to the URL like this (this call won't actually work because it's a fake key):

http://api.digitalnz.org/records/v1.xml?search_text=kiwi&api_key=4a1f7eend7f51869tdn8f7956bqa9d8

6. Play around with Yahoo Pipes

If you're not really the developer type (yet!) then a great place to start is with a tool like Yahoo Pipes, where you can drag and drop data feeds and connect them up like a flow chart. Or you can skip this step and jump straight to hacking something together.

7. Get coding

Okay, so this is where the real work begins. We can't teach you how to program here, sorry, but we'll point you again to the beginners guide to data mashups. Or check out our blog post about building a website on the DigitalNZ API.

8. Send us an example

Let us know what you've been working on... we'd love to tell everyone!