[HN Gopher] Show HN: See library availabilities for your Goodrea...
___________________________________________________________________
Show HN: See library availabilities for your Goodreads want-to-read
list
This is a Goodreads + Libby app integration which shows you the
library availability for each of the books on your Goodreads want
to read list. Basically, I got sick of manually looking up each
book on my Want to Read list on the Libby app to see if it was
available or how long the wait was. So I made this site which
easily gathers all that info for me. At this point, I'm scraping
Goodreads to figure out the "Want to Read" list. Libby provides a
nice API though. Any feedback is appreciated!! I also have a
substack that I'm going to use to post updates, so follow along
there if you're interested :) projecttbr.substack.com
Author : bellamk
Score : 195 points
Date : 2023-10-11 21:01 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (projecttbr.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (projecttbr.com)
| koch wrote:
| Takes a bit to load but looks straightforward and useful!
| prepend wrote:
| How do I find my Goodreads profile id?
| bellamk wrote:
| it's everything after show/ in the link to your profile!
|
| e.g. the link to my profile is
| https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/121455547-bella-vice-van...
| and my id is 121455547-bella-vice-van-heyde
|
| you can also post a link to your profile or to your want to
| read shelf and the site will parse the id from that!
| prepend wrote:
| Hrm, I'm trying
| https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/9499790-brian
|
| And keep getting an "error, failed to load books" message. Am
| I adding my profile incorrectly, or is something else going
| on.
|
| When I try with your id, it works.
|
| Great idea, btw, I can't wait to try it
| bellamk wrote:
| does this link work for you?
|
| https://projecttbr.com/?goodreadsProfile=9499790-brian&libr
| a...
|
| I assume you'll have to change the library -- I'll try to
| repro and fix that issue! That shouldn't happen
|
| and thanks!!
| prepend wrote:
| That works, but when I try my library, I get the same
| error " Failed to load books. Please try again or contact
| support@projecttbr.com if the issue persists."
|
| https://projecttbr.com/?goodreadsProfile=9499790-brian&li
| bra...
| brocket wrote:
| The profile ID is actually just the number, 12145554.
|
| You can verify this yourself by going to
| https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/121455547 or
| https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/121455547-hello-world.
| brocket wrote:
| If you're interested in library integration with Goodreads there
| are a couple browser extensions that work pretty well and have
| unofficial best effort to stay compatible with:
|
| - Library Extension https://www.libraryextension.com/ (closed
| source, works on Amazon too, lots of features and supports
| multiple browsers)
|
| - Available Reads http://rhollister.github.io/goodreads/ (open
| source, specific to Goodreads and Chrome)
| karaterobot wrote:
| That first extension also works with Librarything.
| Pelerin wrote:
| This is great but why isn't "physical book" an option?
| bellamk wrote:
| unfortunately the API I'm currently using only searches
| audiobooks/ebooks. I'll definitely consider doing this in the
| future though! It's just not trivial
| tayo42 wrote:
| Google search does it somehow. Any idea how?
| bellamk wrote:
| Nope lol. Can you give me an example of a search that shows
| physical book availability? I'd definitely be interested in
| figuring out how they do it bc it seems like people are
| interested in this!
| tayo42 wrote:
| when you search a book title it'll usually show it on the
| main search
|
| https://www.seroundtable.com/google-search-library-book-
| avai...
| voisin wrote:
| How challenging is it to add new libraries?
| bellamk wrote:
| The API I'm using searches all libraries that use
| Libby/overdrive (https://www.overdrive.com/) to distribute
| eBooks. So if your library isn't on there then they probably
| don't use Libby and the way to get them on this site would be
| to have your library start using it. Lmk if they are on Libby
| and not showing up bc that would be an issue and I can fix it
| :)
|
| Another option is to get a library card at a library that does
| use Libby -- there are some that offer cards to non-residents
| solely so you can check out library books but idk exactly which
| ones
| sphars wrote:
| Mind if I ask what API you're using? Is it from Overdrive's
| API or a third-party? Have an idea I want to explore if
| there's a decent API.
| JZL003 wrote:
| Yeah me too, I've scraped libby pretty easily but didn't
| know there was an API.
|
| A niche thing which can affect stuff is some libraries only
| show their full catalog if you're logged in (and
| potentially which partner library you're a part of, if the
| library offers multiple). I don't remember if I just read
| this in their documentation or when scraping, found at
| least a few difference so logged in first
| sampling wrote:
| What are some ways to find libraries that issue cards to non-
| residents?
| visviva wrote:
| I've been wishing for this for years!
| mparnisari wrote:
| How do I find my profile Id on mobile? It takes me to the app and
| I can't find it there
| jazzlw wrote:
| If you go to the my profile page and the click share button it
| gives you a link, which ends in the profile id number.
| mparnisari wrote:
| https://projecttbr.com/?goodreadsProfile=7203584&library=vpl...
|
| Gives me zero results :(
| danielskogly wrote:
| I'm also getting zero results, even after adding the books I
| currently have on hold in Libby to my "To-Read" list on
| Goodreads!
|
| Here's some info for bellamk's debugging :)
|
| Search query[0]
|
| My Goodreads "To-Read" shelf[1]
|
| The books on Libby[2][3][4][5]
|
| [0]
| https://projecttbr.com/?goodreadsProfile=48792727&library=de...
|
| [1] https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/48792727?shelf=to-
| read
|
| [2]
| https://libbyapp.com/library/deichman/similar-6414418/page-1...
|
| [3]
| https://libbyapp.com/library/deichman/similar-2001573/page-1...
|
| [4]
| https://libbyapp.com/library/deichman/similar-2259750/page-1...
|
| [5]
| https://libbyapp.com/library/deichman/similar-3326143/page-1...
| bellamk wrote:
| Thank you both for the links!! I'll look into this
| danielskogly wrote:
| Hope it helps! A cool feature might be to be able to select
| which shelf to check as well, for giving recommendations to
| friends from my "Read" shelf, etc. :)
|
| Btw, I was curious to see how it looked when it works. I
| hope you're not planning to borrow "The Great Believers",
| "Watchmen", "The Paper Palace" or "Harlem Shuffle" from the
| New York Public Library[0]. It currently has a listed wait
| time of 9007199254740991 days, or ~652,615.4 cosmic ages.
|
| [0]
| https://projecttbr.com/?goodreadsProfile=121455547-bella-
| vic...
| mynegation wrote:
| Could it be because your "to-read" Goodreads shelf is
| private?
| danielskogly wrote:
| That was it for me! Thank you :)
| imrehg wrote:
| This is amazing initiative, thanks for doing it! I like Libby is
| an amazing "best kept secret". Also Goodreads used such as this
| "database" is exactly as it should (at least partially) be used.
| If I could also connect it with my local _physical_ libraries as
| well + book stores, etc... it would make discovery so much easier
| - and I had even bigger piles of books to read than now. ;) So
| cheers for this!
|
| On the user experience feedback:
|
| - I keep getting "failed to load books", though some stuff did
| succeed (with libraries I don't care about, not my actual ones),
| so I wonder where the issue is (The query is
| https://projecttbr.com/?goodreadsProfile=3669238-gergely&lib...
| for reference; I'm guessing the libraries are giving the grief)
|
| - "loading" is good, but it would be good to have some kind of
| indication of progress (is it loading my want to read list? is it
| going through checking the books? what is it doing?)
|
| - it's nice to see that the settings are saved in the query
| parameters so one can just bookmark the page and don't have to
| fill in things again. This could be made more explicit, though,
| as it might not be obvious or guessable to people
|
| - choosing the ebook type got me stumped a bit, even though I do
| use Libby for ages and e-readers of all kinds: "which one would I
| need to choose to be able to read in the Android app?" etc...
| This might not be this page's issue, but some clarity and UX help
| could be welcome!
| bellamk wrote:
| Thanks so much for the feedback! Those are good ideas.
|
| And thanks for sharing the link where it failed to load books!
| I'm going to try and figure out what's going on with that so
| the link is helpful
| habosa wrote:
| Just wondering what people think: I'm lucky to be able to afford
| all the books I could ever read (high pay, cheap books, medium
| reading speed) so I choose to buy books rather than borrow them
| so that I can support authors.
|
| Is this a common opinion? Should I just borrow from the library,
| does that support the author in some way I don't know about?
| pj_mukh wrote:
| What happens when you move? Or are you buying ebooks.
| TedDoesntTalk wrote:
| You donate them if they are physical books.
| bellamk wrote:
| I also often buy books! Especially if I really like the book or
| the author. I don't think this is an unpopular opinion.
|
| I don't think that borrowing from the library supports the
| author in some way you don't know about -- it shows interest in
| the book and leads to copies being purchased but buying the
| book directly definitely seems like it would have a bigger
| impact. But borrowing from the library does support the
| library! And libraries can be really great for their
| communities :)
| LorenDB wrote:
| I like to buy books, but mainly because I like having a
| physical book collection. In the past year, I've probably
| ordered 40 or 50 books from Thriftbooks (yes, I am a fast
| reader). My bookshelf is now getting full with quality books
| that I can read again and again, or loan out to friends if they
| want to read one of my books.
| johngossman wrote:
| I often borrow books to "try" them and then buy if I like them.
| Also a surprising number of Library ebooks I can't find
| otherwise.
| eiiot wrote:
| Really cool project! Libby is such an underrated tool for reading
| things for free, especially with the number of online libraries
| where you can sign up for free in the US.
| TedDoesntTalk wrote:
| Except the wait list to read any book I've ever tried to read
| is typically weeks or months.
| abid786 wrote:
| You can filter by books that are available immediately too I
| think
| bellamk wrote:
| Thank you! Agreed, it's awesome!
| mwexler wrote:
| You mean, outside of your physical address geo region's local
| library system? Is there a list you could point me to?
| raybb wrote:
| This is quite nice! Now that I know there's an overdrive API
| maybe I will pitch adding a functionality like this to Open
| library :)
|
| Or would also be nice if your app supported an openlibrary.org
| list and checked against that!
| bellamk wrote:
| Thanks! I hadn't heard of open library before but it seems
| pretty cool - what's an open library list? Are you also able to
| track books you're interested in there?
| raybb wrote:
| A list is just what it sounds like, a set of works or
| editions. But OL also has the concept of "reading log" which
| is specific lists that are read/reading/want to read that are
| preset for people.
|
| You can learn more about lists in general here
| https://openlibrary.org/lists
|
| This is a list I created recently titled "Understanding the
| Latin American City" https://openlibrary.org/people/raybb/lis
| ts/OL235745L/Underst...
|
| If you want to access the api for lists the docs are at
| https://openlibrary.org/dev/docs/api/lists but it's also as
| easy as tacking .json to the end of a url like so:
|
| https://openlibrary.org/people/crowmax22/lists/OL226172L/edi.
| ..
| chrisshroba wrote:
| This is amazing, thank you so much for creating this!! I'm going
| to use this all the time. I have a huge number of books in my
| want-to-read list; have you thought about adding an option to
| sort by added date? (or by other things like goodreads rating?)
| karmajunkie wrote:
| absolutely love it, wouldn't change a thing. the estimates on
| availability are really great to see.
| topherjaynes wrote:
| No notes other than add a tip jar, I didn't know I needed this,
| but amazing work.
| activatedgeek wrote:
| LibraryThing [1] also has a local book search on each book's
| page.
|
| [1]: https://www.librarything.com/home
___________________________________________________________________
(page generated 2023-10-12 21:02 UTC)