MobileRead Forums - View Single Post - Download Metadata

Vanguard3000 · 03-15-2023, 12:08 PM

I've long been using Calibre for editing metadata manually, converting formats, etc, and have recently decided to give my library an extensive overhaul. One thing I'm doing is using the "Download Metadata" feature to get some "secondary" information like publisher, published date, etc. But I often run into difficulties finding the correct books using this feature, despite having the title, authour, and isbn correct.

Some contextual info:

I'm using Calibre v6.13
My selected sources for metadata are Amazon, Goodreads, Google, and OpenLibrary
This has occurred with several books, including the example below.
I don't see any issues with my settings in the "Configure Metadata download" dialog nor the individual "Configure selected source" menus as they typically concern tags, which I'm not using. If there is another setting area (i.e. in Calibre's preferences) I haven't come across it.

An example I'm seeing at the moment uses the following info:

Code:

Title: Abhorsen, Authors: Garth Nix

All other data is blank. For this, fifteen hits, including one incorrect edition of the correct book, several translations of the correct book, and several incorrect books in the same series (it's worth noting that the book is part of the Abhorsen series, which likely accounts for this). This is fair, since I haven't specified an edition via isbn or similar ID.

If I use

Code:

Title: Abhorsen, Authors: Garth Nix, ISBN: 9780060532741

I get four hits, including that same incorrect edition of the correct book, and three other books in the series.

In order to get the correct book and edition, I have to blank everything and use ONLY the ISBN, i.e.

Code:

Title: unknown, Authors: unknown, ISBN: 9780060532741

This seems counterintuitive, as I would expect this additional data to narrow the results (i.e. an "AND") rather than broaden them (an "OR" search). Alternatively, I can disable all sources aside from Goodreads and get what I'm looking for, but Ideally I'd like several sources for redundancy. Is there a way to specify this so I get better results?

Additionally, I often use a Goodreads search to confirm the edition, cover art, etc is correct, and I've come across a few instances where a Goodreads ID has been added to the metadata. Is there a way I can just feed in a Goodreads ID from its url ("17743344" from "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17743344-abhorsen") to get the exact hit I'm looking for, rather than having it do a search?

I'm a big fan of Calibre and it's always been super solid for me so I suspect this is a PEBKAC error on my part, but I thought I'd check and see if anyone has some tips for streamlining my process. Thanks in advance.

03-15-2023, 12:08 PM	#1
Vanguard3000 Groupie Posts: 169 Karma: 474196 Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Canada Device: Kobo Libra 2	Download Metadata - issues getting correct hits I've long been using Calibre for editing metadata manually, converting formats, etc, and have recently decided to give my library an extensive overhaul. One thing I'm doing is using the "Download Metadata" feature to get some "secondary" information like publisher, published date, etc. But I often run into difficulties finding the correct books using this feature, despite having the title, authour, and isbn correct. Some contextual info: I'm using Calibre v6.13 My selected sources for metadata are Amazon, Goodreads, Google, and OpenLibrary This has occurred with several books, including the example below. I don't see any issues with my settings in the "Configure Metadata download" dialog nor the individual "Configure selected source" menus as they typically concern tags, which I'm not using. If there is another setting area (i.e. in Calibre's preferences) I haven't come across it. An example I'm seeing at the moment uses the following info: Code: Title: Abhorsen, Authors: Garth Nix All other data is blank. For this, fifteen hits, including one incorrect edition of the correct book, several translations of the correct book, and several incorrect books in the same series (it's worth noting that the book is part of the Abhorsen series, which likely accounts for this). This is fair, since I haven't specified an edition via isbn or similar ID. If I use Code: Title: Abhorsen, Authors: Garth Nix, ISBN: 9780060532741 I get four hits, including that same incorrect edition of the correct book, and three other books in the series. In order to get the correct book and edition, I have to blank everything and use ONLY the ISBN, i.e. Code: Title: unknown, Authors: unknown, ISBN: 9780060532741 This seems counterintuitive, as I would expect this additional data to narrow the results (i.e. an "AND") rather than broaden them (an "OR" search). Alternatively, I can disable all sources aside from Goodreads and get what I'm looking for, but Ideally I'd like several sources for redundancy. Is there a way to specify this so I get better results? Additionally, I often use a Goodreads search to confirm the edition, cover art, etc is correct, and I've come across a few instances where a Goodreads ID has been added to the metadata. Is there a way I can just feed in a Goodreads ID from its url ("17743344" from "https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17743344-abhorsen") to get the exact hit I'm looking for, rather than having it do a search? I'm a big fan of Calibre and it's always been super solid for me so I suspect this is a PEBKAC error on my part, but I thought I'd check and see if anyone has some tips for streamlining my process. Thanks in advance.