| 0 |
Hello! There are lots of ways you can work with the Open Library system, and the [ol-tech mailing list][1] is a great place to ask questions. |
0 |
Welcome to the developer hub of Open Library. This page links you to all of the information and external resources that will help you get started accessing data from, integrating with, or contributing to the Open Library platform. |
| 1 |
|
1 |
|
| 2 |
Open Library is powered by [Infogami][4], a clean, simple wiki application framework built on [web.py][5]. Unlike other wikis, Infogami has the flexibility to handle different classes of data, including structured data. That makes it the perfect platform for Open Library. |
2 |
**Accessing Data** |
|
|
3 |
Open Library offers free, public, low-volume [**Web APIs**][2] and **bulk** [**Monthly Data Dumps**](/data) for accessing book and author catalog data. Here are [examples](/developers/api#api-partners) of partners making use of our data in the wild. Our Web APIs are ideal for book services which need to make infrequent, real-time searches for specific books, their authors, and their availability. For projects which require importing books, authors, or covers in bulk, please kindly download our free data dumps. |
| 3 |
|
4 |
|
| 4 |
Open Library also uses a text-to-HTML formatting language [Markdown][7], created by John Gruber. We also use the handy [WMD][8] Markdown WYSIWYG editor. |
5 |
**Client Libraries** |
|
|
6 |
We maintain an [**Official (Python) Client Library**](https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary-client) for accessing data and [writing bots](https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary-bots#openlibrary-bots). The are also unofficial client libraries written in [Ruby](https://github.com/jayfajardo/openlibrary) and [Elixir](https://github.com/nithinbekal/openlibrary). |
| 5 |
|
7 |
|
| 6 |
Special thanks to [Browserstack][9] for cross browser compatibility testing. |
8 |
**Contributing** |
| 7 |
|
9 |
OpenLibrary.org is an open source project. If you'd like to contribute as an Open Library developer, please visit our [**CONTRIBUTING guide**](https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary/blob/master/CONTRIBUTING.md) on [GitHub](https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary) and explore our [**volunteer page**](https://openlibrary.org/volunteer). Aside from the documentation here, you may also find [Open Library's Docs site](https://docs.openlibrary.org) useful for getting started. |
| 8 |
**Developer Notes & Blogs** |
|
|
| 9 |
- [Current documentation pages](https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary/wiki) |
|
|
| 10 |
- [Main older documentation page](https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs) & [API Documentation][2] |
|
|
| 11 |
- [Ruby interface for the API](https://github.com/jayfajardo/openlibrary), written by Jay Fajardo |
|
|
| 12 |
- [Using covers][3] |
|
|
| 13 |
- [Set up a development instance of Open Library](https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary#installation) |
|
|
| 14 |
- [Committing changes to github.com/openlibrary/openlibrary](/dev/docs/committing) |
|
|
| 15 |
- [Writing a Bot for Open Library](/dev/docs/bots) |
|
|
| 16 |
- [Using the Internet Archive BookReader](/dev/docs/bookreader) |
|
|
| 17 |
- [Archive.org book URLs](/dev/docs/bookurls) |
|
|
| 18 |
- [In-Library lending tech notes](/dev/docs/inlibrary) |
|
|
| 19 |
- [Github Issue Tracker](https://github.com/internetarchive/openlibrary/issues), [old issue tracker](https://bugs.launchpad.net/openlibrary) on launchpad |
|
|
| 20 |
- Blogs by current and former devs: [Gio](http://gio.blog.archive.org/category/openlibrary/), [Raj](http://raj.blog.archive.org/tag/openlibrary/), [Anand](http://anand.blog.archive.org/) |
|
|
| 21 |
|
10 |
|
| 22 |
**Data** |
11 |
**Technologies** |
|
|
12 |
Open Library is written in Python and uses the (now arcane) [Infogami](https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/infogami) web framework, which itself is built on top of [web.py](https://webpy.org). |
| 23 |
|
13 |
|
| 24 |
- [Bulk Download Open Library Bibliographic Data](data#bulk_download) |
14 |
**Partners** |
| 25 |
- [Archive.org Interfaces](/dev/docs/ia) to publicly-accessible books and updates |
15 |
Are you a library, publisher, or book vendor trying to integrate your catalog with Open Library previews, lending, data, or book covers? Check out our [partner resources](/dev/docs/inlibrary). |
| 26 |
|
|
|
| 27 |
**Infogami** |
|
|
| 28 |
|
|
|
| 29 |
- [Infogami Developer Tutorial](/dev/docs/infogami) |
|
|
| 30 |
|
|
|
| 31 |
|
16 |
|
| 32 |
[oldev]: /developers/ol |
17 |
[oldev]: /developers/ol |
| 33 |
|
18 |
|
| 34 |
|
19 |
[1]: https://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech |
| 35 |
[1]: http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech |
20 |
[2]: https://openlibrary.org/developers/api |
| 36 |
[2]: http://openlibrary.org/developers/api |
21 |
[3]: https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/api/covers |
| 37 |
[3]: http://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/api/covers |
|
|
| 38 |
[4]: https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/infogami |
22 |
[4]: https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/infogami |
| 39 |
[5]: http://webpy.org/ |
23 |
[5]: https://webpy.org/ |
| 40 |
[6]: http://infogami.org/quicklook |
24 |
[6]: https://infogami.org/quicklook |
| 41 |
[7]: http://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ |
25 |
[7]: https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/ |
| 42 |
[8]: http://wmd-editor.com/ |
26 |
[8]: https://wmd-editor.com/ |
| 43 |
[9]: https://www.browserstack.com/ |
27 |
[9]: https://www.browserstack.com/ |
|
