Getting Started

Overview

Access quality content and library technology for institutions through our APIs.  Make in-depth research easy by using our Search and Discovery APIs to search your library's collection.  Manage your resources more efficiently with the EBSCO Knowledge Services.  Use our Medical APIs to find evidence-based health information.

This guide provides a brief introduction to the core concepts of EBSCO's APIs.  If you have interacted with a RESTful API before, many of the concepts described here will be familiar to you.  EBSCO's APIs are accessed via an endpoint or URL. For some of our APIs, the endpoint will accept parameters that will help refine the results being returned or allow for the insertion or update of data.

Most EBSCO APIs support four different types of requests:

  • GET – Used to query information
  • POST – Used to insert data
  • PUT – Used to update existing information
  • DELETE – Used to delete or deactivate existing information

We do not require you to register to browse our documentation.  For basic information on the APIs and what they do, you can check out the interactive API reference documentation for each API.  Simply click on the APIs tab in the main navigation and browse to your desired API.  Click on the API Reference tab in the API navigation bar to view the reference.  For example, the HoldingsIQ API Reference describes the HoldingsIQ endpoints.  Need more in-depth information?  You can find more information on each API in the documentation section for each individual API.  

Getting started as a new developer is easy.   Welcome!