Table of Contents: 2015 SEPTEMBER–OCTOBER No. 406
New VSAC Tutorial Available. NLM Tech Bull. 2015 Sep-Oct;(406):b7.
The National Library of Medicine (NLM) is pleased to announce the release of the first video tutorial featuring the Value Set Authority Center (VSAC) REST API. The API allows remote retrieval of value set information through URL-based calls that contain functions and corresponding parameters. The API is based on the IHE Sharing Value Sets (SVS) Technical Framework (opens as a PDF file).
The new tutorial "Authentication with the Value Set Authority Center (VSAC) SVS API" demonstrates how to perform proper authentication when submitting requests to the VSAC REST API. The authentication process uses UMLS credentials (username and password) and consists of two steps. First request a Ticket Granting Ticket (TGT), then request the Service Ticket (ST). The TGT is valid for 8 hours, while the ST is valid for 5 minutes and can be used to submit only one API request. Users must generate a new ST for each new API request.
The tutorial is available from a link on the VSAC Support Center, Learning Resources for NLM Clinical Terminology Artifacts and Tooling, and the NLM Distance Education Resources pages.
