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Openlibrary

Ruby Interface for the OpenLibrary API

Install / Use

/learn @jayfajardo/Openlibrary
About this skill

Quality Score

0/100

Supported Platforms

Universal

README

== Openlibrary

{<img src="https://badge.fury.io/rb/openlibrary.png" alt="Gem Version" />}[http://badge.fury.io/rb/openlibrary]

The openlibrary gem provides Ruby clients for the {Open Library REST API}[http://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/restful_api] and {Books API}[http://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/api/books].

For more information about Open Library development, visit the {Open Library Developer Center}[http://openlibrary.org/developers/api] and {Developer Notes}[http://openlibrary.org/dev]. If you want to receive the latest updates and learn how to contribute, join us on the {ol-tech mailing list}[http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech]!

== Installation

The gem is tested against Rubies 2.2.2, and current latest 2.2.x, 2.3.x, and 2.4.x (specifically 2.2.7, 2.3.4, 2.4.1) and runs smoothly with Rails 5.

gem install openlibrary

or in your Gemfile:

gem 'openlibrary'

== Usage

You can use the Books client to retrieve a book's Open Library listing information, and the REST client to perform more advanced queries and save changes to Open Library.

just require

require 'openlibrary'

== REST Client

You can use the REST client to look up books, authors, the revision history of any Open Library object, and recent changes to Open Library.

You can also use the REST client to log in and save changes to Open Library, after you register your profile (or your bot's profile) with the {API Usergroup}[http://openlibrary.org/usergroup/api]. Send a message to the {ol-tech mailing list}[http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech] to learn how!

=== Getting Started

Before anything else, create a new client:

client = Openlibrary::Client.new

=== Books

Since Open Library has varying amounts of information about the books in its database, and returns data in a schemaless format, not every book will have the same properties. Common properties include title, works, and contributors, but most books will have more.

Find a book by its OLID:

book = client.book('olid')

book.contributors # array of book contributors book.covers # array of book cover ids book.works # array of works associated with the book book.subjects # array of subjects of the book

book.title # book title book.by_statement # name of primary author(s) of the book book.number_of_pages # number of pages in the book book.copyright_date # book's copyright date book.physical_format # book's physical format book.isbn_10[0] # book's ISBN-10 identifier book.isbn_13[0] # book's ISBN-13 identifier book.goodreads[0] # book's goodreads id

Get data on book contributors:

book.contributors.each do |c| name = c.name # contributor's name role = c.role # contributor's role (e.g., cover art) end

Get the book's subjects:

book.subjects.each do |s| subject = s end

Get a book's Open Library object keys by its ISBN, LCCN, or OCLC identifier:

keys = client.book_by_isbn('isbn') # isbn must be 10 or 13 characters long keys = client.book_by_lccn('lccn') keys = client.book_by_oclc('oclc')

Iterate through the array of keys:

keys.each do |k| key = k['key'] # keys are in the format '/books/{OLID}' end

Although keys are returned in an array, most arrays will only have one element.

=== Authors

Find an author by their OLID:

author = client.author('olid')

author.name # author name author.birth_date # author's birth date author.death_date # author's death date author.last_modified.value # date and time of last change to page author.revision # number of current revision author.key! # author key, in the format '/authors/{OLID}

=== Search

Find books through the Open Library free text search:

results = client.search("A Tale of Two Cities")

Search by book attributes:

results = client.search({author: "Doctorow", title: "Little Brother"})

Results are arrays of books

results[0].title # the title of the first result

=== Revision History

Get the revision history of any Open Library object:

history = client.rev_history('key')

The key should be in the format '/type/OLID'. E.g., '/books/OL9220552M', '/authors/OL27349A', or '/works/OL468516W'.

=== Recent Changes

Get an array of recent changes to Open Library:

changes = client.recent

=== Saving Changes

Use the login method to get a session cookie:

cookie = client.login('username', 'password')

Set the other parameters for the object you want to change:

key = '/type/OLID' # e.g., '/books/OL9220552M' update = full_object_with_changes # must be JSON format comment = 'changed X, Y, and Z'

Save your changes and receive the updated object as a response:

object = client.save(key, cookie, update, comment)

NOTICE: Before you can actually save changes to Open Library, you need to register your profile (or bot) with the {API Usergroup}[http://openlibrary.org/usergroup/api]. Send a message to the {ol-tech mailing list}[http://mail.archive.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/ol-tech] to learn how!

== Books Client

There are three classes in the openlibrary gem you can use to access the {Books API}[http://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/api/books]. Use Openlibrary::View to look up Open Library listing information, Openlibrary::Data to get a book's full metadata details, and Openlibrary::Details to get book details in addition to what the Openlibrary::View class provides.

=== Openlibrary::View

Instantiate the class:

view = Openlibrary::View

Look up a book by its ISBN-10 or ISBN-13:

book = view.find_by_isbn("0451526538")

book.info_url # book's URL on Open Library book.preview # book's preview state, either 'noview' or 'full' book.thumbnail_url # url of thumbnail cover of the book, if available

book.preview_url

Links to an archive.org page with a readable version of the book,

if one is available. If not, links to the book's Open Library

page. book.preview should be used first to test if a readable

preview of the book exists.

Other built-in finder methods:

view.find_by_lccn # Library of Congress catalog number view.find_by_oclc # Worldcat Control Number view.find_by_olid # Open Library ID

=== Openlibrary::Data

Instantiate the class:

data = Openlibrary::Data

Look up a book by its ISBN-10 or ISBN-13:

book_data = data.find_by_isbn("0451526538")

book_data.title # book's title book_data.authors # array of authors

Other built-in finder methods:

data.find_by_lccn # Library of Congress catalog number data.find_by_oclc # Worldcat Control Number data.find_by_olid # Open Library ID

=== Openlibrary::Details

Instantiate the class:

details = Openlibrary::Details

Look up a book by its ISBN-10 or ISBN-13:

book_details = details.find_by_isbn("0451526538")

book_details.info_url # book's URL on Open Library book_details.details # additional details, such as description

Other built-in finder methods:

details.find_by_lccn # Library of Congress catalog number details.find_by_oclc # Worldcat Control Number details.find_by_olid # Open Library ID

== CONTRIBUTORS

  • Jay Fajardo https://github.com/jayfajardo
  • John Shutt https://github.com/pemulis
  • Robert Berry https://github.com/bdigital
  • Eric Larson https://github.com/ewlarson
  • Charles Horn https://github.com/hornc
  • Alex Grant https://github.com/grantovich
  • Bryan L. Fordham https://github.com/bfordham
  • Kyle Corbitt https://github.com/kcorbitt
  • Matt Dressel https://github.com/dresselm
  • Scott Lesser https://github.com/okcscott

== LICENSE

This code is released under the {CC0 License}[http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/], and may be used for any purpose without restrictions.

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GitHub Stars98
CategoryDevelopment
Updated2mo ago
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Languages

Ruby

Security Score

80/100

Audited on Jan 21, 2026

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