mapFAST
When looking for information about a location, it is often useful to check surrounding locations as well. The FAST Geographic subjects provide a clean access point to this material, and a Google Maps mashup was developed to allow users to see these surrounding locations that are also FAST subjects. The map interface allows for simple selection of the location, with a link to enter this directly as a search into either Open WorldCat or Google Books.
Impact
The prototype provides a different way to look at subject access to bibliographic records. It also demonstrates a strength of the subject faceting approach of FAST over coordinated subject headings. As a different approach, it is hoped that this will stimulate other novel ideas to help end user find their books.
Details
This mashup prototype was developed using the longitude and latitude information contained in the FAST Geographic authority records combined with Google Maps.
The underlying FAST Geographic authority records are available as a Web Service, allowing discovery of authorities near a set of geographic coordinates.
Three versions of mapFAST are available:
- The online prototype supports large-screen viewing on desktops and laptops.
- The online mobile version supports browser viewing on devices of any size.
- The Android app provides customized access on Android devices.
It is important to note that these services are experimental in nature. They are provided "as is" without commitment to any particular level of service. Use of our prototypes is subject to the OCLC ResearchWorks terms and conditions. By using any of the prototype demos, you agree to these terms. If one of the demos linked from this page is not working when you visit, please let us know and come back and try it again later.
Outputs
Publication
Bennett,Rick, Edward T. O'Neill, Kerre Kammerer, and JD Shipengrover. 2011. "mapFAST: A FAST Geographic Authorities Mashup with Google Maps." Code4Lib Journal, 14,2011-07-25. http://journal.code4lib.org/articles/5645.