Introduction
Collaboratory supports a GraphQL API (Application Programming Interface) that enables institutions to integrate data directly from their Collaboratory portal into other institutional systems in real time. This will enable institutions to integrate Collaboratory data with other institutional systems, or to design customized reports or visualizations that can be integrated into their own dashboards or websites.
Integrating Collaboratory data into other institutional systems will require a campus resource with technical knowledge of web application programming and web services. Contact your IT team to understand the level of effort that will be required to accomplish your intended goals.
API output gives you the flexibility to:
Support interoperability with other products and services, such as ingesting Collaboratory data into faculty reporting systems like Faculty 180 and Digital Measures
Increase discoverability by sending data to institutional, departmental, and faculty websites
Develop creative approaches to tell your institutional story by sharing data on community engagement and public service
Our data collection process includes data that is not collected anywhere else on campus, which is why the value of integrating data from a system like Collaboratory is so high to institutions.
Request API Access
The first step to start using Collaboratory's Outbound Reporting API is to request authorization credentials. This is required to access the API for your Collaboratory portal. Please note that API access requires an additional subscription—contact your Collaboratory representative to discuss pricing and options.
Review the API Documentation
Contact us to request access to the developer documentation for the resources you plan on consuming. The sample use cases in this documentation can provide a starting point for a variety of tasks.
Supporting the Reporting API
The Web API is considered a self-service tool, and due to the highly varied uses of this feature, Collaboratory is unable to provide assistance with the setup or maintenance of this resource. Your IT team will be responsible for using the access key provided by Collaboratory to establish connections to other systems to manage data and user accounts.
Collaboratory is able to support the following on a limited basis:
Setup and updates to API accounts/permissions
Errors received from API endpoints
Questions on endpoints to use to perform specific actions
General questions on functionality and features
Resource Limits
We cannot always anticipate how other developers may use our API web services. Web services usage in excess of 10,000 requests per day per institution merits review, and may result in the Collaboratory team reaching out to pursue more efficient means of meeting the given need. It is rare, however, that institutions reach this level of activity since batching of requests and caching of data can be used to diminish the number of calls required. It is also important to note that web services requests for the purposes of integrating with another data source on campus should be made outside of business hours (8am - 8pm ET).