The document discusses mashups, which are web applications created by combining data from multiple sources. It provides examples of mapping mashups, news mashups, video/photo mashups, and shopping/search mashups. The brief history explains that early mashups required screen scraping websites for data, but now major companies provide APIs to access their data like maps to encourage more mashup creation. The document also describes how mashups work by connecting a client's browser to the mashup website and external data sources through real-time updates.

1. Mashups: Frankenstein of the
Web
Melda M. Washington
Information Culture

2. Overview
 Introduction
 Brief History of Mashups
 How a Mashup Works
 Example

3. Introduction
 A mashup is anything that results from a combination of
data from different sources. Mashups could be accessed
and found across the World Wide Web. It is considered
to be one of the new types of web content today – an
indication of the Web 2.0 phenomenon.
 A mashup usually refers to the merging of two or more
sets of content from different sources using a web
application. A good example of a mashup site is the
www.chicagocrime.org. This website is a result of the
merging or “mashup” of Google maps and Chicago’s
crime database.

4. Introduction
 Mashups have also been applied in real estate. Maps
from a certain website are merged with data from
another source so that information about houses for sale
in a certain area could be produced using a virtual map.
 Mashups today could be classified according to their
content and sources. The most common types of
mashups are as follows:
 Mapping mashups
 News mashups
 Video and photo mashups
 Shopping and search mashups

5. Brief History of Mashups
 During the early days of
mashups, programmers usually had to screen
scrape websites just to obtain useful data.
Today, major players such as
Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have allowed
users and mashup creators to utilize their
maps for their applications in the hopes of
getting more exposure for their products and to
gain deeper market penetration and wider
market distribution. This has opened the gates
for the increasing rate of mashup site creation.

6. How a Mashup Works
 Mashups usually rely on the web applications
that allow web pages to be updated real time
without the need to refresh the entire page on
every update.
 The mashup succeeds if three components
successfully connects and collaborates to be
able to come up with a good mashup. The
components are the client’s browser, the
mashup website, and the online data sources
or the API providers. Mashups work in different
ways.

7. How a Mashup Works
 Mapping mashups requires a mapping source
which could provide a visual presentation of the
area or location that is involved in the process.
The source for the type of data or information that
the mashup will contain is also required. This data
will then be plotted on the map in a graphical or
visual manner by the application.
 News mashups work on the concept of putting up
a specific collection of news that a certain user or
client wants or usually prefers and then presents
them in one collective method.

8. How a Mashup Works
 Video and photo mashups rely on photo and video
content providers together with another data
source that could provide any information that
could be related to such multimedia content.
These could include the places or locations of
photos and videos taken. These locations or
addresses could then be used for geographical
plotting for visual reference.
 Shopping and search mashups works on the idea
of comparing product prices and specifications
using a search method. The search results from
various online sources could then be compiled or
mashed-up for the surfer’s convenience.

9. Examples
 Mashup website
consists of several
API’s

10. Examples
 Mashup website
consists of
Google maps API