[OPEN-ILS-DEV] Overdrive API integration

[Jeff Davis]

I mentioned a few months back that Sitka has been working on integrating
Overdrive's API into the Evergreen OPAC -- specifically, using the
Overdrive API to allow patrons to checkout and place holds (and view
checkouts/holds, suspend or cancel holds, etc.) on Overdrive titles
directly within the OPAC.  Our code for this is currently in production
for one of our libraries, and I'm expecting a couple more of our
libraries to go live with it in the next few weeks.

It's not fully documented yet, but the code is available here:

http://git.sitka.bclibraries.ca/gitweb/?p=sitka/overdrive-evergreen-opac.git;a=summary

Build and install instructions are outlined in the README.  As currently
implemented, this is a Javascript-based add-on or overlay to the
existing OPAC.  Actual changes to Evergreen are minimal: basically, we
add a setting to config.tt2 which, if enabled, includes an overdrive.tt2
file which pulls in the OD API Javascript, as seen here:

http://git.sitka.bclibraries.ca/gitweb/?p=sitka/evergreen.git;a=commitdiff;h=f8d5d13

One downside of this project in its current form is that it introduces
new dependencies, particularly jQuery and require.js.  It's also written
in Coffeescript and requires a recent release of node.js to be compiled
to Javascript (in my experience it will compile with the packaged
version of node on Ubuntu 14.04, but not 12.04).  Another downside is
that it's closely tied to the Overdrive API specifically; it is perhaps
possible to modify it to work with other APIs (e.g. OneclickDigital),
but that's not as trivial as I'd have liked.

It would obviously be great to have the Overdrive API integration
available with the next release of Evergreen.  Given the aforementioned
downsides, though, I assume we don't want to include this in the 2.8
release as-is.  On the other hand, it actually works.  So I'm not quite
sure how to proceed with integrating and supporting this project for the
broader Evergreen community.
-- 
Jeff Davis
Lead Evergreen Specialist
BC Libraries Cooperative