Mashups

A mashup is a Web application that combines data and features from two or more unrelated external Web sites, to create an entirely new, independent re-mixed website. The term 'mashup' is borrowed from the pop music scene, where a mashup is a new song mixed from vocal and instrumental tracks from two different source songs, usually belonging to different genres. Like these pop songs, a mashup is an unusual or innovative composition of content.

It's a good bet that you're already using mashups. For instance, when you look for directions on the web, or when you're using an online store such as Amazon.com and do price comparisons ... yes, mashups! One of the earliest, and most popular mashup sites is Chicagocrime.org, which combines two services -- a Chicago Police Dept. crime Web site and Google Maps -- and lets you type in an address to see recent crimes nearby.

For more about mashups, here's a good overview web article, including a useful bibliography: Mashups: The new breed of Web app. And here's a great website: programmableweb