Downloading ASIN from Amazon

nynaevelan · 02-02-2012, 08:01 AM

Does anyone know of a way to download only the ASIN number from Amazon? I want to update my library with the original Amazon ASIN, but I cannot seem to find a way to do it within Calibre.

Nyn

CWatkinsNash · 02-02-2012, 04:06 PM

Sort of. I just tried the following:

I had gotten some Amazon freebies today. I added them to calibre, then checked three of them to make sure the ID field was blank. I then selected all three, and hit ctrl+D for bulk download. On that box, I clicked "configure download", unchecked all the sources except Amazon, then "configure this source" and unchecked all the boxes. I also unchecked everything in the main box there on the right.

After applying the changes, and clicking "download only metadata", the only information downloaded is ASIN & ISBN (if there is one).

So yes, if you don't mind also getting the occasional ISBN as well. Now I'm doing to change my settings back before I forget.

Edited to add: In the "configure source" box for Amazon, be sure to check the "save" button, not just "apply". The checkbox settings on that won't take if you don't click "save". (I missed it because of having both a "save" and "apply" button there.)

nynaevelan · 02-02-2012, 05:53 PM

That kinda sorta works, for some books it downloads a isbn and an amazon id but not the asin. I know the asin exists because I can see it on Amazon's page. But thanks for the tip, I am going to use it to see if it will lower my list down some.

CWatkinsNash · 02-02-2012, 06:01 PM

Well, darn. I guess I just got lucky with the ones I tried. I wonder if it's matching those books up with the paper version instead of the ebook version... I think the ones I tried were only available as ebooks.

Now I'm all curious about this.

nynaevelan · 02-02-2012, 06:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CWatkinsNash

Well, darn. I guess I just got lucky with the ones I tried. I wonder if it's matching those books up with the paper version instead of the ebook version... I think the ones I tried were only available as ebooks.

Now I'm all curious about this.

Me too, I will try a test on those that I know are only in ebook versus those that come in multiple formats. But your suggestion is helping, it is finding a lot of them. Hopefully when it is all said and done I will not have too many that I have to update manually. But I am starting with a list of over 900 so who knows.

robcohen · 02-02-2012, 09:31 PM

Hi,
I've been working on maintenance of my library and got new metadata for a slew of books and was pleasantly surprised to see a number picked up the ASIN. FWIW, I just recently used the Extract ISBN plug-in on everything in my library that was missing an ISBN and the ASINs turned up when I again checked (individually) for metadata.

I had a chuckle about it all since I had spent hours and hours fiddling with batch file and python program (posted by someone else) to get the ASINs from Amazon awhile ago. Well, it was a learning experience at least

Don't see anything about this in the release notes but I'm still grateful to have it. Thank you, Kovid!

Rob

kovidgoyal · 02-02-2012, 09:53 PM

As long as calibre can find the book on amazon, the asin is downloaded. Disable the other metadata sources, to ensure the amazon match is used. And disable the other metadata fields to ensure only identifiers are downloaded.

02-02-2012, 08:01 AM	#1
nynaevelan eBook Junkie Posts: 1,526 Karma: 1464018 Join Date: May 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Fire 2020, Kindle PW2	Downloading ASIN from Amazon Does anyone know of a way to download only the ASIN number from Amazon? I want to update my library with the original Amazon ASIN, but I cannot seem to find a way to do it within Calibre. Nyn

02-02-2012, 09:31 PM	#6
robcohen Enthusiast Posts: 37 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jun 2008 Device: Kindle and Kindle Touch	Noticed ASINs downloading today, too Hi, I've been working on maintenance of my library and got new metadata for a slew of books and was pleasantly surprised to see a number picked up the ASIN. FWIW, I just recently used the Extract ISBN plug-in on everything in my library that was missing an ISBN and the ASINs turned up when I again checked (individually) for metadata. I had a chuckle about it all since I had spent hours and hours fiddling with batch file and python program (posted by someone else) to get the ASINs from Amazon awhile ago. Well, it was a learning experience at least Don't see anything about this in the release notes but I'm still grateful to have it. Thank you, Kovid! Rob

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02-02-2012, 04:06 PM	#2
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	Sort of. I just tried the following: I had gotten some Amazon freebies today. I added them to calibre, then checked three of them to make sure the ID field was blank. I then selected all three, and hit ctrl+D for bulk download. On that box, I clicked "configure download", unchecked all the sources except Amazon, then "configure this source" and unchecked all the boxes. I also unchecked everything in the main box there on the right. After applying the changes, and clicking "download only metadata", the only information downloaded is ASIN & ISBN (if there is one). So yes, if you don't mind also getting the occasional ISBN as well. Now I'm doing to change my settings back before I forget. Edited to add: In the "configure source" box for Amazon, be sure to check the "save" button, not just "apply". The checkbox settings on that won't take if you don't click "save". (I missed it because of having both a "save" and "apply" button there.)

02-02-2012, 05:53 PM	#3
nynaevelan eBook Junkie Posts: 1,526 Karma: 1464018 Join Date: May 2010 Location: USA Device: Kindle Fire 2020, Kindle PW2	That kinda sorta works, for some books it downloads a isbn and an amazon id but not the asin. I know the asin exists because I can see it on Amazon's page. But thanks for the tip, I am going to use it to see if it will lower my list down some.

02-02-2012, 06:01 PM	#4
CWatkinsNash IOC Chief Archivist Posts: 3,950 Karma: 53868218 Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Fruitland Park, FL, USA Device: Meebook M7, Paperwhite 2021, Fire HD 8+, Fire HD 10+, Lenovo Tab P12	Well, darn. I guess I just got lucky with the ones I tried. I wonder if it's matching those books up with the paper version instead of the ebook version... I think the ones I tried were only available as ebooks. Now I'm all curious about this.

02-02-2012, 09:53 PM	#7
kovidgoyal creator of calibre Posts: 43,866 Karma: 22666666 Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Mumbai, India Device: Various	As long as calibre can find the book on amazon, the asin is downloaded. Disable the other metadata sources, to ensure the amazon match is used. And disable the other metadata fields to ensure only identifiers are downloaded.

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