Any way to get Calibre to download Series info for books?

kelemvor · 02-10-2023, 11:53 PM

Hi,
I haven't used Calibre in ages but am trying to organize my epub files in the library. I dragged and dropped them in, and it shows the name, cover, etc. However, most of the books don't show their Series info even though they're almost all part of trilogies or other series. I tried doing the Ctrl+D download and checking all the source boxes. That brought in one or two more series but still half the books don't show one.

Is there any better way to parse that information somehow so I can use the Series info to sort/group my books?

Also, is there any way to use a field for the overall grouping of books from the same world? E.g. Could I put "Lord of the Rings" in a field and then put the Hobbit, fellowship, two towers, return of the king, Silmarillion, Could I put "Drgonlance" in a field and then have all the series from Dragonlance be grouped together?

Thanks.

BetterRed · 02-11-2023, 12:51 AM

You could try extracting metadata from a few format files, one at a time:

Click image for larger version

Name: 1.jpg
Views: 145
Size: 196.7 KB
ID: 199636

If that proves useful you could do it for many books in bulk :

Click image for larger version

Name: 2.jpg
Views: 126
Size: 207.9 KB
ID: 199637

BR

DNSB · 02-11-2023, 11:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kelemvor

Also, is there any way to use a field for the overall grouping of books from the same world? E.g. Could I put "Lord of the Rings" in a field and then put the Hobbit, fellowship, two towers, return of the king, Silmarillion, Could I put "Drgonlance" in a field and then have all the series from Dragonlance be grouped together?

Thanks.

For some series where multiple series are set in the same world (Mercedes Lackey's Valdemar books for example), I changed the series name from say, Mage Wars to Valdemar: Mage Wars and kept the series index the same. It does take a bit of manual intervention during the metadata cleanup but not that onerous.

theducks · 02-12-2023, 04:27 AM

I do close to the same as David, except i set series (preferences:Look &Feel:Hierarchy (a tab)) to hierarchical (note: the Tag browser gains an arrow and if you click the top level 2 times, you get double + and ALL children show.)

Valdemar.Mage wars
Now it gets dicey

Sometimes I number from 1 if it is a spinoff/cycle
AND
I also use my {#altSeries} to place it in Valdemar

ALSO (

Authors!

) I turn the flat-filed Series groups from Fantastic Fiction (my primary source) into hierarchical when it appears the series is just more / another cycle
eg. Universe.cycle (my Valdemar has 14 children cycles, some probably should go to level 3

02-10-2023, 11:53 PM	#1
kelemvor Connoisseur Posts: 50 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jan 2013 Device: Android	Any way to get Calibre to download Series info for books? Hi, I haven't used Calibre in ages but am trying to organize my epub files in the library. I dragged and dropped them in, and it shows the name, cover, etc. However, most of the books don't show their Series info even though they're almost all part of trilogies or other series. I tried doing the Ctrl+D download and checking all the source boxes. That brought in one or two more series but still half the books don't show one. Is there any better way to parse that information somehow so I can use the Series info to sort/group my books? Also, is there any way to use a field for the overall grouping of books from the same world? E.g. Could I put "Lord of the Rings" in a field and then put the Hobbit, fellowship, two towers, return of the king, Silmarillion, Could I put "Drgonlance" in a field and then have all the series from Dragonlance be grouped together? Thanks.

02-11-2023, 12:51 AM	#2
BetterRed null operator (he/him) Posts: 21,735 Karma: 29711016 Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Sydney Australia Device: none	You could try extracting metadata from a few format files, one at a time: If that proves useful you could do it for many books in bulk : BR

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02-12-2023, 04:27 AM	#4
theducks Well trained by Cats Posts: 31,067 Karma: 60358908 Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: The Central Coast of California Device: Kobo Libra2,Kobo Aura2v1, K4NT(Fixed: New Bat.), Galaxy Tab A	I do close to the same as David, except i set series (preferences:Look &Feel:Hierarchy (a tab)) to hierarchical (note: the Tag browser gains an arrow and if you click the top level 2 times, you get double + and ALL children show.) Valdemar.Mage wars Now it gets dicey Sometimes I number from 1 if it is a spinoff/cycle AND I also use my {#altSeries} to place it in Valdemar ALSO ( Authors! ) I turn the flat-filed Series groups from Fantastic Fiction (my primary source) into hierarchical when it appears the series is just more / another cycle eg. Universe.cycle (my Valdemar has 14 children cycles, some probably should go to level 3

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