Calibre with public library books?

[cc_in_oh]

Hello,

I'm looking for a way to track availability of book series across a number of public libraries. I want a tool that will import an ordered series list, say Michael Connelly, and then as I locate each book in a library I would update this list so I know where to find it when I'm ready for it.

This probably sounds silly, but I won't start a series until I've located all the books, and using Overdrive to search a dozen libraries over and over is tedious and cumbersome since it has no way to save results.

I'm new to Calibre and it looks like there might be plugins that could help with this, so I thought I would ask here if this sounds feasible? Otherwise I'll bite the bullet and just use Excel...

Thanks,
CC

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Hello,

I'm looking for a way to track availability of book series across a number of public libraries. I want a tool that will import an ordered series list, say Michael Connelly, and then as I locate each book in a library I would update this list so I know where to find it when I'm ready for it.

This probably sounds silly, but I won't start a series until I've located all the books, and using Overdrive to search a dozen libraries over and over is tedious and cumbersome since it has no way to save results.

I'm new to Calibre and it looks like there might be plugins that could help with this, so I thought I would ask here if this sounds feasible? Otherwise I'll bite the bullet and just use Excel...

Thanks,
CC

@cc_in_oh - try something like this.

Create empty books for each book in a series, perhaps from a CSV via the Import List plugin.

Add a tag like custom column "available_from/Available From" into which you put the library names (possibly via the Import List PI) as and when you find them.

BR

[eschwartz]

Check out the OverDrive Link plugin by @jhowell.
It does pretty much anything I could possibly want. Searching for books, or all books by a given author, or keyword searches, then saves the results in a dialog box that lists title/author/series/availability.
You can add a "discovered book" to your calibre library, click the links in Book Details to view the OverDrive catalog page for that book at that library, search for and save the estimated wait time at the libraries it is available at...

I never bother to search the OverDrive websites directly anymore.

[cc_in_oh]

Thank you - sounds promising. I started setting up a few series in Excel, pasting from the FictionDB site. But scouring 6 or 8 libraries in Overdrive and updating the list was even more cumbersome than I expected, not to mention error-prone since Overdrive doesn't list in order.

If a plugin can front-end the searches for several libraries at once that alone would be a tremendous help. I'll try to get to work on it soon and post feedback here...

Thank you for the help,
CC

[shalym]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Thank you - sounds promising. I started setting up a few series in Excel, pasting from the FictionDB site. But scouring 6 or 8 libraries in Overdrive and updating the list was even more cumbersome than I expected, not to mention error-prone since Overdrive doesn't list in order.

If a plugin can front-end the searches for several libraries at once that alone would be a tremendous help. I'll try to get to work on it soon and post feedback here...

Thank you for the help,
CC

Did you try the Overdrive Link plugin? Maybe I'm not clear on what you're trying to do, but the plugin will definitely search several libraries at once. I just used it to search multiple libraries for books by Patricia Wentworth, and got the following results:

Spoiler:

calibre, version 2.56.0
: Overdrive Link found: 68 discovered books. 1 book/library link to be added<p>Proceed with updating?

Key: *=Discovered book, @=Available at, !=Recommendable at, $=Purchasable at, #=Audiobook

-------- DISCOVERED BOOKS (MISSING FROM CALIBRE) --------

(Choose "Manage discovered books" from the plugin menu to view these.)

*The Alington Inheritance by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*The Amazing Chance by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Annam Jewel by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Anne Belinda by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Beggar's Choice by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Benevent Treasure by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*The Black Cabinet by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Blind Side by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Blindfold by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Case Is Closed by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Case of William Smith by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Catherine Wheel by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Chinese Shawl by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Clock Strikes Twelve by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*The Coldstone by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Danger Calling by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Dark Threat by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Dead or Alive by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Death at Deep End by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Devil's Wind by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Dower House Mystery by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Down Under by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Eternity Ring by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Fear by Night by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Fingerprint by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Fire Within by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP.FR)

*Fool Errant by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Gazebo by Patricia Wentworth (@OpenLib)

*The Girl in the Cellar by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Hole and Corner by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Hue and Cry by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*In the Balance by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Ivory Dagger by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Key by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Kingdom Lost by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Ladies' Bane by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Latter End by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*The Listening Eye by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Lonesome Road by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Marriage Under the Terror by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP.FR)

*Miss Silver Comes to Stay by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Miss Silver Deals with Death by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*The Miss Silver Mysteries by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Mr. Brading's Collection by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Mr. Zero by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Nothing Venture by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Out of the Past by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Outrageous Fortune by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Pilgrim's Rest (Miss Silver Mystery) by Patricia Wentworth (@OpenLib)

*Poison in the Pen by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Pursuit of a Parcel by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Red Shadow by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Red Stefan by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Rolling Stone by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Run! by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*She Came Back by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Silence in Court by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Silent Pool by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*The Summerhouse by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Through the Wall by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Touch and Go by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Vanishing Point by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Walk with Care by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*The Watersplash by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR, @OpenLib)

*Weekend with Death by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Who Pays the Piper by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

*Wicked Uncle by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

*Will o' the Wisp by Patricia Wentworth (@FLP.FR)

------ NEWLY FOUND BOOK/LIBRARY LINKS (TO BE ADDED) ------

Grey Mask (The Miss Silver Mysteries Book 1) by Patricia Wentworth (@BPL, @FLP, @FLP.FR)

Note that while they aren't in *series* order, they are in alphabetical order which should make it a little easier, right?

Shari

[eschwartz]

Originally Posted by shalym

Did you try the Overdrive Link plugin? Maybe I'm not clear on what you're trying to do, but the plugin will definitely search several libraries at once. I just used it to search multiple libraries for books by Patricia Wentworth, and got the following results:

Shari

"I'll try to get to work on it soon and post feedback here..."

[shalym]

Originally Posted by eschwartz

"I'll try to get to work on it soon and post feedback here..."

Ah...ok. For some reason I interpreted "try to get to work on it" as he was going to try to create something himself. Since it literally took me 5 minutes to install the plugin and test it out, I didn't think that testing it was something that needed to be "worked on".

Shari

[cc_in_oh]

Sorry, I meant I would try Calibre with the plugin when I get a chance but probably not until the weekend at the earliest. I've got Calibre loaded but so far haven't done much with it except convert a few epubs - i.e. still a lot to learn about its library management capabilities.

Thanks again for help getting started...

Edit 11Jul> I finally got some time to work on this and making good progress with the help of the experts at the Overdrive plugin thread...

[cc_in_oh]

I've got the Overdrive plugin working pretty well with 6 libraries, still waiting for credentials on a few more.

As I also posted in the Import plugin thread, my first attempt there left me with author column = "Unknown" when I created the list of empty books (Ross Macdonald, sourced from fantasticfiction). So the Overdrive plugin doesn't find any of them.

Correcting manually is pretty easy since it drops down previous entries to select, but I'm hoping someone might have an idea to get Import to populate the Author column?

Thanks,
CC

[theducks]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

I've got the Overdrive plugin working pretty well with 6 libraries, still waiting for credentials on a few more.

As I also posted in the Import plugin thread, my first attempt there left me with author column = "Unknown" when I created the list of empty books (Ross Macdonald, sourced from fantasticfiction). So the Overdrive plugin doesn't find any of them.

Correcting manually is pretty easy since it drops down previous entries to select, but I'm hoping someone might have an idea to get Import to populate the Author column?

Thanks,
CC

I had similar (author Unknown) a few weeks ago with the Import List using the FF site and forgot to ask.

I think the FF site might have made a slight change and the Author(s) no longer import.

BTW Where DOES the PI get the default SITE templates from? I could not spot them in a JSON or code

[cc_in_oh]

Originally Posted by theducks

I had similar (author Unknown) a few weeks ago with the Import List using the FF site and forgot to ask.

I think the FF site might have made a slight change and the Author(s) no longer import.

BTW Where DOES the PI get the default SITE templates from? I could not spot them in a JSON or code

The only other predefined template that looked promising was Goodreads Search Results. That populated Author but not Series or Date, and was not sorted (sortable). The results worked with Overdrive, but the FF results are more usable even if I have to manually populate Author.

I tried a couple of other FF searches, Eliz. George and Rex Stout, with same issue.

I've already posted in the Import PI thread but I didn't characterize as an issue related to the FF web site layout - if you're fairly certain about that maybe we should ask the developer to have a look?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

The only other predefined template that looked promising was Goodreads Search Results. That populated Author but not Series or Date, and was not sorted (sortable). The results worked with Overdrive, but the FF results are more usable even if I have to manually populate Author.

I tried a couple of other FF searches, Eliz. George and Rex Stout, with same issue.

I've already posted in the Import PI thread but I didn't characterize as an issue related to the FF web site layout - if you're fairly certain about that maybe we should ask the developer to have a look?

The developer is busy (getting paid? for work). Others have been tweaking his PI. They might figure it out.

[cc_in_oh]

Well cleaning up the imported list in Calibre is a bit more cumbersome than I thought. I'm thinking it would be easier to paste into Excel from fictiondb.com or orderofbooks.com and do the cleanup there, then import a CSV file into Calibre - any thoughts?

[theducks]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

Well cleaning up the imported list in Calibre is a bit more cumbersome than I thought. I'm thinking it would be easier to paste into Excel from fictiondb.com or orderofbooks.com and do the cleanup there, then import a CSV file into Calibre - any thoughts?

Same PI will do CSV
No matter which way you go. GIGO

Nothing beats TLC, and that takes time.
But what is the rush? Your books were NOT in Calibre before...

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by cc_in_oh

I'm thinking it would be easier to paste into Excel from fictiondb.com or orderofbooks.com and do the cleanup there, then import a CSV file into Calibre - any thoughts?

I took that route when I did the initial load of my 'Media' library (~30K 'books'), created and massaged a spreadsheet with Excel, saved it as CSV and fed that into Import List. Use whatever you're most comfortable with.

BR