OttoBib.com
Encyclopedia
OttoBib.com is a website with a free tool to generate an alphabetized bibliography
of books from a list of International Standard Book Number
s (ISBN) with output in MLA, APA
, Chicago
/Turabian, BibTeX
and Wikipedia format. Each query also generates a "temporary" permalink
(self-destructs in about one month) which can be used to recall the bibliography without reentering the ISBN data. The site is a metasearch engine
, integrating data from several sources, including the U.S. Library of Congress
API, the Amazon.com
database of books, and ISBNdb.com. OttoBib accepts ISBNs with either 10 or 13 digits.
The original inspiration for the site came from Seth Godin
's January 3, 2006 blog post on "Stuck Systems", where he wrote:
, a writer and web developer, said OttoBib is a "tool that solves a simple problem in a simple manner."
interface to allow a citation to be generated from a URL that contains the ISBN. For example, ISBN 0195117972 can be used in the URL:
http://ottobib.com/isbn/0195117972/apa
to display
Patterson, J.
, (1997). Grand Expectations
. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press.
In February 2007, OttoBib introduced the ability to request citations in BibTeX
and Wikipedia formats.
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
of books from a list of International Standard Book Number
International Standard Book Number
The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering code created by Gordon Foster, Emeritus Professor of Statistics at Trinity College, Dublin, for the booksellers and stationers W.H...
s (ISBN) with output in MLA, APA
APA style
American Psychological Association Style is a set of rules that authors use when submitting papers for publications in APA journals. The APA states that they were developed to assist reading comprehension in the social and behavioral sciences, for clarity of communication, and to "move the idea...
, Chicago
The Chicago Manual of Style
The Chicago Manual of Style is a style guide for American English published since 1906 by the University of Chicago Press. Its 16 editions have prescribed writing and citation styles widely used in publishing...
/Turabian, BibTeX
BibTeX
BibTeX is reference management software for formatting lists of references. The BibTeX tool is typically used together with the LaTeX document preparation system...
and Wikipedia format. Each query also generates a "temporary" permalink
Permalink
A permalink is a URL that points to a specific blog or forum entry after it has passed from the front page to the archives. Because a permalink remains unchanged indefinitely, it is less susceptible to link rot. Most modern weblogging and content-syndication software systems support such links...
(self-destructs in about one month) which can be used to recall the bibliography without reentering the ISBN data. The site is a metasearch engine
Metasearch engine
A metasearch engine is a search tool that sends user requests to several other search engines and/or databases and aggregates the results into a single list or displays them according to their source. Metasearch engines enable users to enter search criteria once and access several search engines...
, integrating data from several sources, including the U.S. Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
API, the Amazon.com
Amazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
database of books, and ISBNdb.com. OttoBib accepts ISBNs with either 10 or 13 digits.
Background
OttoBib.com was started as a hobby project in 2006 by Jonathan Otto, a then 4th year undergraduate at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse, USA. It was originally called "That's Crazy Hot!" but the name was quickly changed to OttoBib because the original title was "not suitable for the academic environment and consequently won't take off."The original inspiration for the site came from Seth Godin
Seth Godin
Seth Godin is an American entrepreneur, author and public speaker. Godin popularized the topic of permission marketing.-Background:...
's January 3, 2006 blog post on "Stuck Systems", where he wrote:
"A quick online search didn't turn up what seemed obvious to me: a free service that would allow a writer to type in all the ISBNs used in creating a paper and then generate two things:
- 1. a bibliography based on looking up the data online and
- 2. a web page that would allow the reader/teacher to see the books, their covers... etc."
Functionality
OttoBib.com performs the two basic functions outlined. Marcus P. Zillman, an Internet information retrieval consultant and speaker said "this website is the start of a new paradigm of citing sources." Jason ClarkeJason Clarke
Jason Clarke is a writer and web developer living in Orono, Maine.His first book, Michael Moore Is a Big Fat Stupid White Man, co-written with David T. Hardy, was released in June 2004 and spent six weeks on The New York Times Bestseller list for Hardcover Nonfiction...
, a writer and web developer, said OttoBib is a "tool that solves a simple problem in a simple manner."
Developments
In January 2007, OttoBib introduced a RESTRepresentational State Transfer
Representational state transfer is a style of software architecture for distributed hypermedia systems such as the World Wide Web. The term representational state transfer was introduced and defined in 2000 by Roy Fielding in his doctoral dissertation...
interface to allow a citation to be generated from a URL that contains the ISBN. For example, ISBN 0195117972 can be used in the URL:
http://ottobib.com/isbn/0195117972/apa
to display
Patterson, J.
James T. Patterson (historian)
James T. Patterson is an American historian, Ford Foundation Professor of History emeritus at Brown University.-Awards:* 1966 Frederick Jackson Turner Award for Congressional Conservatism and the New Deal: The Growth of the Conservative Coalition in Congress, 1933-1939* 1968 Guggenheim Fellow *...
, (1997). Grand Expectations
Oxford History of the United States
The Oxford History of the United States is an ongoing multi-volume narrative history of the United States published by Oxford University Press.-Woodward editorship:The series originated with a plan laid out by historians C...
. Oxford Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press.
In February 2007, OttoBib introduced the ability to request citations in BibTeX
BibTeX
BibTeX is reference management software for formatting lists of references. The BibTeX tool is typically used together with the LaTeX document preparation system...
and Wikipedia formats.
See also
- Citation creatorCitation CreatorCitation creators or citation generators are online tools which facilitate the creation of works cited and bibliographies. Citation creators use web forms to take input and format the output according to guidelines and standards, such as the Modern Language Association's MLA Style Manual, American...
- Bibliographic databaseBibliographic databaseA bibliographic database is a database of bibliographic records, an organized digital collection of references to published literature, including journal and newspaper articles, conference proceedings, reports, government and legal publications, patents, books, etc...
- Delicious LibraryDelicious LibraryDelicious Library is a media cataloguing application for Mac OS X, developed by Delicious Monster to allow users to manage collections of books, movies, CDs, and video games....
- ISBNdb.com
- Reference management softwareReference management softwareReference management software, citation management software or personal bibliographic management software is software for scholars and authors to use for recording and utilising bibliographic citations . Once a citation has been recorded, it can be used time and again in generating bibliographies,...