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The problems faced by a specialized, medical
knowledge reference website include
relevance, authority, and ease of access. This
project aims to improve customized knowledge
dissemination about cancer using a leading
website, CancerQuest.org. CancerQuest is a
well established and credible website at Emory
University. The construction and
implementation of an Application Programming
Interface (API) was studied. “An applicationprogramming
interface (API) is a set of
programming instructions and standards for
accessing a Web-based software application or
Web tool. A software company releases its API
to the public so that other software developers
can design products that are powered by its
service.”1 The CancerQuest API will make
referenced, original information such as cancer
articles, researcher and patient interview
videos, biology of cancer lectures and much
more easily available for other application
developers to leverage. We are collaborating
with faculty and staff at the Georgia Institute of
Technology to create an API and connect
CancerQuest with an application being
developed as part of the CoBot project
(explained in detail in red box below).
The idea of an API is to allow developers outside
of CancerQuest to harness our content for their
own applications. For example, when a customer
buys something at Amazon, the credit
transaction (i.e. credit verification and approval
for purchase) occurs behind the scenes and is
invisible to the customer. In this case,
Amazon.com uses the credit card API for
transactions. On the other hand, developers
leverage Amazon’s API to post product
information and pricing on their websites - this
gives the site visitor updated information from
Amazon and even allows them to “Buy Now.”1
Developers will be able to leverage the
CancerQuest API to get cancer related
information and media to embed on their
websites.
1) An API design has been developed
technology that leverages proper REST
(REpresentational State Transfer) protocols
and uses XML feeds generated from a Google
Appliance Server to generate results.
2) A custom Google Search Engine has been
implemented.
3) The API has been designed for semantic
linking and social media integration
4) An iPhone web interface has been designed
While the API is invisible, the benefit will be
immediate for millions seeking cancer
information. The availability of a mobile
application will help bridge the informational
divide gap in remote and under-served
populations across the world. 2,3
Third party websites can better leverage the
application resources offered by CancerQuest,
especially educational sites that update
dynamically. Use of the API will enable the
CoBot project to serve high quality cancer
information to their end-users.
The API will also help CancerQuestʼs Search
Engine Optimization and will be useful in
building mobile applications.
Acknowledgements: This material is based upon work supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Grant No.
52005873. Thanks to Nagib Haque from CancerQuest.org for graphical assistance. We extend our gratitude to Saurav Sahay
and Anushree Venkatesh from College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
1. Roos, Dave. "How to Leverage an API for Conferencing." 23 November 2007.
HowStuffWorks.com.
(link) 29 July 2009.
11 Feb. 2009
(link).
2. "Pew Internet: Digital Divisions." Pew Internet & American Life Project. 11 Feb. 2009
(link).
3. Cheong, Pauline., Feeley, Thomas. and Dutta-Bergman, Mohan. "Investigating Digital Divide
Issues in Online Health Information Seeking: A Population-Based Study" Paper presented at the
annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dresden International Congress
Centre, Dresden, Germany, Jun 16, 2006 (link not available). 2009-02-05
(link)
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