Type of format web syndication Open format? Yes | Extended from Atom | |
Internet media type application/atom+xml;profile=opds-catalog Initial release 5 May 2010 (2010-05-05) Latest release OPDS 1.1
(27 June 2011; 5 years ago (2011-06-27)) | ||
The Open Publication Distribution System (OPDS) Catalog format is a syndication format for electronic publications based on Atom and HTTP. OPDS Catalogs enable the aggregation, distribution, discovery, and acquisition of electronic publications. OPDS Catalogs use existing or emergent open standards and conventions, with a priority on simplicity.
Contents
The Open Publication Distribution System specification is prepared by an informal grouping of partners, combining Internet Archive, O'Reilly Media, Feedbooks, OLPC, and others.
History
OPDS is based on the initial work done by Lexcycle, the company behind Stanza, an eBook reader application for iOS.
All revisions of the specification were produced by an informal group organized around an open mailing list.
Example of OPDS 1.1 content
An example of an acquisition feed in OPDS:
OPDS Catalogs
Dozens of OPDS catalogs are available online, and in many different languages.
Many users of OPDS also create their own OPDS catalog, as a way to access their ebooks from any device.
Developers implementing an OPDS catalog usually use the Feedbooks catalog as an example of a fully featured catalog. An OPDS validator is also available to test OPDS feeds.
Comparison of OPDS clients
In order to test client compatibility, a test catalog is available as a GitHub project.
Over a dozen OPDS clients are available on major platforms such as Android, iOS and Windows.
This is a comparison for some of these clients, based on the results published for the test catalog.