Heard about the OpenAmplify API yesterday and using some PHP code from their site, fashioned a little test service to see the API in action. But first, what’s Amplify?
Here’s a quote from their site:
Using patented Natural Language Processing technology, Amplify reads and understands every word used in text. It identifies the significant topics, brands, people, perspectives, emotions, actions and timescales and presents the findings in an actionable XML structure.
To use the tester, send it a URL to process:
http://gmutant.gmu.edu/z/amp.php?url=http://YourURLHere
Here’s a link that “amplifies” our library’s home page:
http://gmutant.gmu.edu/z/amp.php?url=http://library.gmu.edu
How might you use the API? Well, right now there’s not a lot of utility available to the casual user. You register for an API key and then you’re allowed 1,000 queries per day but each may analyze no more than 2500 characters. I got this a few minutes ago which is encouraging:
So, for now, forget sending your novel in for a quick second read. But still, you can do a few things with the limited API.
For example, looking at the report I got back on our library’s home page, I realized OpenAmplify agrees with me–we don’t use that many “action” terms on the page (a common failing of library websites where the focus often lapses into concern with how we’re organized, not what users might want to do on the site). Worried that we’ve pitched the page to an high-school education level? No, not really…there’s not enough text on that sort of link-heavy page to reach a reliable conclusion.
I saw an interesting OpenAmplify -> QueryPath mashup done by M. Butcher yesterday which shows a much more interesting application of this technology. Here’s a video demonstration / explanation: