

Please listen, Google: we want a Google Scholar API - ignifero
http://code.google.com/p/google-ajax-apis/issues/detail?id=109

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phaylon
The actual title for the issue is »Please add Google Scholar to the API,
including # of citations and BibTex reference.« Is there a reason to use a
harsh, demanding tone in the submission title?

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ignifero
I was meant to be demanding, stressing that it's been requested by 230 people
over 3 years. I m sorry if you find it harsh

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phaylon
Are you trying to convince HN users to vote on (or »star«) the issue or are
you trying to convince Google with this post? In any way, you should then
include the point you want to stress in the title, or at least the comment you
made right after. After all, if you're not saying it, you're not really
stressing it.

But since I assume you'd rather inform HN users to support the feature wish,
might I propose »3 year old Google Issue asking for an API for Scholar« or
something along that line?.

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ignifero
There's nothing like that it in the Guidelines of this site. The title is
shorter and more concise. Even "please" is redundant

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phaylon
They are _guidelines_ , and my comment isn't based on them, but on the
usefulness of the title. It might be »shorter and concise,« but I'd also argue
that you are trying to convey emotional meaning that is not in the original
content. Plus, the »please« was added by you to »make me happy« after my first
criticism. I'm not sure how it's redundant, since it changes the meaning of
the title. But it did not really touch on my point. You are addressing Google
in the title, while you're probably trying to get HN users to participate.
From the title, I would have expected a personal take on the issue at hand,
not just a ticket.

I would also argue that »Please listen, Google: we want a Google Scholar API«
is less concise than »3 years old Google Issue asking for an API for Scholar«
as the latter contains more information. It explains that the issue has been
there for 3 years, and what the resource contains that you're pointing to.

If you think my points are invalid, why do you think so? Do you deem my
criticism invalid just because it isn't an excerpt of guidelines?

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ignifero
I really see no point to conversing in an abandoned thread like this, but i 'm
outlining it here:

1) My message would be "HN, if you care, help make more visible this request
for a Google Scholar API by visiting this petition that has been submitted on
google issues to add Google Scholar to the API, along with BibTex and 100+
other features that are requested in the comments for the issue. I 'm very
unhappy that it hasn't been implemented in 3 years, and it's not just me, it
seems other people are working on research web apps, too.".

2) How is "3 years old Google issue" of interest to anyone? It's trivial
metadata (and implicit in the URL)

3) Please don't misunderstand my "are you happy now" comment. It was well-
intented

4) If I used your wording, people wouldn't know whether i was pointing to an
open, closed, fixed, invalid or other bug. Also there would be no indication
that i actually would like them to upvote the petition.

5) I believe, "We want a Google Scholar API" is the shortest way to describe
the request. "Listen, Google" is meant to be a motivator

6) This must be my most-scrutinized title. And I m not even English.

~~~
phaylon
Thanks for the answers, that clears things up for me. I'm not a native English
speaker myself and can relate to that. That might even be one of the reasons
the semantics in the title stood out for me as much as they did.

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rryan
Where's my pony?

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nvictor
Google Reader! I've been begging forever...

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ignifero
I came upon this "petition" as i was looking for a search tool for a research-
related app. Given the fact that most of the life sciences literature is
behind paywalls, attempting to make your own search engine is very complicated
and sometimes impossible. At best you can index abstracts and authors (and
that's not easy). Google has the advantage of having been given access to
almost all journals, and having the infrastructure ready. I hope they will
remember their roots in research and come up with a small api for google
scholar that research apps can utilize.

