DPLAfest 2015: Come hack with us!
Join us for a two-day hackathon during DPLAfest 2015 (Indianapolis, April 17-18) to collaborate with members of the DPLA community and build something awesome with our API. A hackathon is a concentrated period of time for creative people to come together and make something new. In their excellent hackathon planning guide, DPLA community reps Chad Nelson and Nabil Kashyap described a hackathon as “an alternative space–outside of day-to-day assignments, project management procedures, and decision-making processes–to think differently about a problem, a tool, a dataset, or even an institution.”
Scene from a DPLA hackathon in January 2014
The hackathon at DPLAfest 2015 will provide a space for people to build off the DPLA API, which provides access to almost 9 million (and counting!) CC0 licensed metadata records from America’s libraries, archives, and museums in a common metadata format. We support this open API so that the world can access our common cultural heritage, and use it to build something transformative. Our ever-growing app library has examples of innovative projects that have been built using the API. Many people have also contributed ideas for apps and tools – perhaps someone at the hackathon will take one on!
Coders of all levels – from beginning to advanced – are welcome at the hackathon. During the first hour on Friday, we will cover API basics, the capabilities of the DPLA API, available toolsets, and tips for using records from the API effectively. After that, there will be ample opportunity to teach and learn from one another as we build our apps. As always, you can find helpful documentation on our website, such as the API codex and the glossary of terms.
Non-programmers are also welcome. Whatever your expertise – design, metadata, business development – you can help generate ideas and create prototypes. The only requirements for participation are curiosity and a desire to collaborate.
The hackathon is Friday, April 17, 1:30pm-4:00pm, and Saturday, April 18, 10:30am-3:00pm (with a break for lunch). It culminates with a Developer Showcase on Saturday at 3:15pm. Visit the full schedule to find out more about what’s happening at DPLAfest 2015. Registration is still open!