New Books API for developers

By Posted by Kevin Landry, Google Books API Team

Cross-posted from Inside Google Books

Today, we are releasing a new Google Books API in Code Labs. The new Books API will help you write applications to query for the more than 15 million books that are searchable on books.google.com including book metadata, pricing and more. This API replaces the Google Book Search Data and Javascript APIs.

The previous GData API and Javascript API will still be available, but ongoing development work will be focused on the new Google Books API so we encourage you to make the transition to take advantage of new features including:

• OAuth 2.0 support
• Integration with the Google APIs Console
• Library support for multiple programming languages

We’re excited about some of the new capabilities this API gives our developer partners. Using OAuth 2.0, a developer can allow users to retrieve their stored information, including bookshelves in their library, ratings and reviews. With the new JSON structure, accessing this information can be done with ease. Whether you want to use the API on a web page, in a Chrome extension, or on a device, the new Books API gives you a way to access the world’s largest selection of ebooks.

Kevin Landry is the technical lead for personalization and the API for the Google Books team. He has previously worked on the Google Audio and Google Analytics teams.

Posted by Scott Knaster, Editor