This is interesting news — Don Hamparian, Manager WorldCat Grid Portfolio at OCLC, formally announced the WorldCat Hackathon to the WorldCat Developer Network Discussion List tonight.

Join fellow coders, hackers and tech-enthusiasts for a two-day WorldCat Hackathon at the New York Public Library. Sponsored by the OCLC Developer’s Network and NYPL Labs of The New York Public Library, the WorldCat Hackathon gives participants the opportunity for two full days of brainstorming and coding mash-ups and other Web services to take advantage of all that WorldCat, the world’s largest bibliographic database, has to offer.

November 7-8, 2008
9:00 am – 4:00 pm
Science, Industry and Business Library, New York Public Library, 188 Madison Avenue
$30 registration fee

http://worldcat.org/devnet/index.php/2008NYCHackathon

• It’s a chance for anyone interested in structured data to get their hands on the new WorldCat Search API.
• Participants both inside and outside the library industry are encouraged to participate.
• Gain development access to 1.2 billion items from more than 10,000 libraries worldwide.
• Integrate these resources with many others to create innovative new services.
• Share your creative vision and be a part of the next wave of online library development.

Ideas, outcomes and code from the Hackathon, together with a linked participants list, will be shared during and after the event for others to download and build on.

Web Services provided for the Hackathon by OCLC include the following, although any web service can be used at the event:

• WorldCat API
• xISBN, xISSN, xOCLCNUM
• WorldCat Identities
• Registries including institution, reviews, citations (lists), tagging
• Terminologies
• Metadata Crosswalk

Bring your laptop, your ideas and your curiosity, and we’ll supply breakfast, lunch and snacks. Space is limited to the first 65 participants, so register early to assure your participation.

The confirms the preliminary announcement I heard (although with slightly different dates) at the BarCampOhio/LibraryCampOhio meeting last month. It makes me wish I could get to NYC for the two-day event. The likelihood of doing so is slim, though, given restrictions on non-essential travel for state employees. Suggested wording for justifications as to why this would be essential travel would be most appreciated in this posting’s comments.