External API integration

I am currently working on a site that will make use of some external data sources. One of the main feeds we are going to use is education.com school information.

I have been researching the best method for this process all over the forums and google. There is a lot about xml-rpc sending data out but a very limited amount of information on bringing the data in for display.

We want to be able to pass the node location information to the sites and have them return the values that we will then theme.

Much of the data is not available in an RSS format so the feedapi and mapper do not work for most of this installation.

My goal was to do this with a minimal amount of custom coding. With Drupal 7 around the corner I think anything we do an overhaul on will break and need to be reconfigured.

I have 2 questions for all of the pros out there....

1-What modules would you use to accomplish this?

2- Would it be better to write our own or customize something like the Flickr module?

Thanks for your advice.