The Zombie Stack Exchanges That Just Won't Die
Many users are in a rush to use the library, but some are still able to spare some time to explore the library's collections. Aside from perusing the shelves directly, it would be convenient for patrons to be able to find similar items of interest.
Is it possible to license Amazon's book recommendation engine for use with a public or university library's online catalog, or for use as a separate program (as it might be a systems integration nightmare to retrofit it to an older catalog system)?
jonsca
I believe Amazon still uses an item-to-item collaborative filtering method ('people who bought this book also bought these other books!').
Details in this article: http://www.win.tue.nl/\~laroyo/2L340/resources/Amazon-Recommendations.pdf
Given that, it really shouldn't be too hard to create a similar system...or build one from an existing open source solution like http://easyrec.org/
I think LibraryThing for Libraries is what you're looking for!
LibraryThing for Libraries (LTFL) is a system of OPAC enhancements, designed to make your catalog more engaging and informative. Give your patrons exciting new content, including: Tags, Reviews, Similar Books, Shelf Browse, Series, Awards, Stack Maps, Lexile measures, and Other editions. Pick and choose which enhancements you'd like. Browse, search and discover your library's holdings in a new, powerful, and engaging way.
http://www.librarything.com/forlibraries
I think you can use Amazon's Product Advertising API to provide suggestions. It mentions "Similar Products" as one of its services. I can't tell from their page whether it's a paid service or not but it's probably free.
Edit: I thought I had seen the Product Advertising API in use and I finally remembered where. Jason Clark of Montana State University has a beta "BookMeUp" app that uses the API to suggest another book to read based on search results. He's also released the source code on Github if anyone wants to reuse it. I couldn't find the license but much of his other work is under the GPL. It's not clear to me why this hasn't moved out of beta; it seems pretty polished. It points users to Amazon as an end point so it doesn't seem like it would violate the terms of the API.
We looked into using Amazon reviews a couple of years back but, at that time, it was against Amazon's TOS to use their content without the primary purpose of its use being to send traffic/sales to Amazon. We've tried multiple times to get Amazon to discuss with us licensing options for any of their content but Amazon has never been remotely interested in working with us.